There are almost no major cities left where mayors are still elected directly. And hardly any smaller ones either.
Yekaterinburg is one of the last, but even here they want to take away people’s right to vote for their own local government. A bill to do just that is being considered on April 3.
This is not the first time, but Yekaterinburg is known for pushing back every time officials try to insult its residents in this way—they have built broad cross-party coalitions, held rallies against abolishing mayoral elections, and so on.
Such a coalition has now been formed again, bringing together very different people. It is truly a citywide movement of Yekaterinburg residents. A genuinely grassroots one.
And the grassroots nature of the movement is easy to explain. Read this interview with sociologist Viktor Vakhshtain. He says that trust in local government has fallen in every Russian city, and only in Yekaterinburg has it risen. The “Roizman effect.”
The effect of an elected mayor who knows the people of his city and speaks with them. Who acts on their behalf. While many regions, for example, did not know whether to declare mourning for Kemerovo (after the deadly shopping mall fire) or not, Yekaterinburg simply went ahead and did so:
That is exactly what sets an elected mayor apart from an appointed one.
Yekaterinburg’s movement to preserve elected mayors matters for the entire country. Every poll shows that at least 70% of citizens consistently support direct elections for mayors and governors. In that sense, the Kremlin is acting directly against the will of the people.
On April 2, the day before the bill to abolish elections is considered, a rally will be held in Yekaterinburg. It has been officially approved, and Yevgeny himself will also speak there.
Please come, regardless of your political views. No decent person can fail to protest when the right to choose is being taken away so brazenly.
I recorded a short video calling people to the rally, and we will be distributing it through our networks in Sverdlovsk Region.
Here is the rally group on VKontakte, and here is the event on Facebook. If you live in Yekaterinburg, please support the event by posting this image on social media.
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