This is a list of European countries by population:
As you can see, Moscow is so enormous that if it were a country, it would rank 11th in population out of 44 European countries.
Moscow’s budget, let me remind you, is the third largest in the world, behind only New York and Shanghai. This year, direct budget expenditures alone amount to 1.7 trillion rubles.
The laws for this city are passed by a tiny legislative body—the Moscow City Duma. It has only 35 members, and in that sense Moscow holds a bizarre “record”: one city deputy for every 300,000 residents (if you use the population estimate of just over 10 million, though in reality it is much higher).
Can a deputy like that work effectively, pass laws, and communicate with voters? Of course not.
The new Moscow City Duma will have 45 deputies, which is still nowhere near enough. On top of that, today an utterly anti-Moscow and idiotic law was passed: more than half of the deputies will serve on a non-professional basis, and the Moscow city government will also be granted the right to introduce legislation. We are also cheerfully informed that these part-time deputies will be allowed to run businesses. Wonderful—that is exactly what Muscovites need. Spot on. They’ve been dreaming of the day when deputies could FINALLY go into business.
So now, for this huge city with a mountain of problems, we will have only 22 full-fledged deputies and—under Sobyanin’s ideal scenario—23 little servants: school principals and hospital chief physicians entirely dependent on City Hall, who come to meetings only to press whichever button they are told to press.
That means one real city deputy for every half a million residents. And that is taking into account the fact that local district deputies have virtually no powers at all.
A true flowering of people’s rule. A good example of how power is gradually usurped amid total silence in the information space and public indifference.
That puts even more responsibility on those of us citizens who understand what is happening. The candidate registration process for the Moscow City Duma is underway right now. Independent candidates urgently need help just to have a chance of overcoming the prohibitive signature-gathering barrier.
Here is a list of candidates who need help. You can sign for them. Better yet, collect a few signatures:
Lyubov Sobol — candidate for the Donskoy, Danilovsky, Nagatino-Sadovniki, and Nagatinsky Zaton districts http://sobollubov.ru Electoral District No. 32
Nikolai Lyaskin — candidate for the Novokosino, Kosino-Ukhtomsky, Nekrasovka, Veshnyaki, and Vykhino-Zhulebino districts http://lyaskin2014.ru Electoral District No. 20, member of the “For Moscow!” coalition http://coalition.msk.ru/material.php?id=5368E3F7C1DAB
Konstantin Yankauskas. You know what situation he is in; his status is unclear, but we continue to regard him as a candidate and demand that he be registered. Electoral District No. 31, member of the “For Moscow!” coalition http://coalition.msk.ru/material.php?id=536B1B6D9530F
Andrei Bystrov — candidate for the Aeroport, Voykovsky, Sokol, and Koptevo districts http://www.andrew-bystrov.org Electoral District No. 8, member of the “For Moscow!” coalition http://coalition.msk.ru/material.php?id=536B308F10B2B
Maria Gaidar — candidate for the Presnya, Arbat, and Khamovniki districts http://mariagaidar.ru Electoral District No. 43, member of the “For Moscow!” coalition http://coalition.msk.ru/material.php?id=536B372BA8AF2
Vladislav Naganov — candidate for the Perovo, southern Sokolinaya Gora, and northern Ivanovskoye districts http://naganoff.livejournal.com http://naganoff.livejournal.com/139716.html Electoral District No. 17
Ilya Yashin — candidate for the Akademichesky, Gagarinsky, Lomonosovsky, and part of the Prospekt Vernadskogo district Electoral District No. 37, member of the “For Moscow!” coalition http://coalition.msk.ru/material.php?id=537A42A718B3F
Olga Romanova — candidate for the Tverskoy, Taganka, Yakimanka, and Zamoskvorechye districts http://oromanova.org/ http://za.romanovu.org
Electoral District No. 44, member of the “For Moscow!” coalition http://coalition.msk.ru/material.php?id=536B121535FE8
Alexei Beskorovainy — candidate for the Kurkino, Molzhaninovsky, and Severnoye Tushino districts Electoral District No. 2, member of the “For Moscow!” coalition http://coalition.msk.ru/material.php?id=537E63CFED178
Maxim Motin — candidate for the Pechatniki district and part of the Maryino district http://pechatniki2012.livejournal.com Electoral District No. 25, member of the “For Moscow!” coalition http://coalition.msk.ru/material.php?id=539960141674A
Vladimir Zalishchak — candidate for the Krylatskoye, Strogino, and part of the Kuntsevo district Electoral District No. 4, member of the “For Moscow!” coalition http://coalition.msk.ru/material.php?id=536B35EA8741D
Sergei Sokolov — candidate for the Konkovo and Tyoply Stan districts Electoral District No. 35, member of the “For Moscow!” coalition http://coalition.msk.ru/material.php?id=536B34B5D1BD3
All candidates of the “For Moscow!” coalition http://coalition.msk.ru
Maxim Katz — candidate for the Filevsky Park, Khoroshevo-Mnevniki, and part of the Shchukino district http://maxkatz.ru http://maxkatz.livejournal.com/278759.html Electoral District No. 5
Vladimir Milov — candidate for the Yasenevo district and part of the Zyuzino district http://milov2014.ru Electoral District No. 34
Vera Kichanova — candidate for the Kurkino, Molzhaninovsky, and Severnoye Tushino districts http://kichanova.livejournal.com/106693.html Electoral District No. 2
The more independent candidates are registered, the more this will actually resemble an election. They all VERY much need help collecting signatures right now.