Sergei Mironov, chairman of A Just Russia political party (romanized: Spravedlivaya Rossiya; abbr. SR), has drawn attention to the section of the party’s programme dealing with local government. The party has long called for the restoration of direct elections for municipal heads, which were previously abolished. A Just Russia has found evidence that appointed officials have failed to become more effective managers. However, Mironov appears to have identified one of the key problems with Russia’s vertical system of government. Since most decisions are at least approved at the very top, reversing unsuccessful innovations is hardly possible.
Mironov explicitly described the situation in Bashkiria as a ‘vivid illustration of the failure of local government reform’. The republic’s Supreme Court reinstated Ratmir Mavliev as mayor of Ufa. Mironov noted that Mavliev ‘is under investigation in a criminal case involving a particularly large bribe and abuse of office’. He reminded that A Just Russia had always opposed the abolition of direct elections for municipal heads
‘Our opponents assured us that the appointment system would prevent “random people” from entering government and that competent professionals would henceforth run municipal services. But not only have we seen no increase in efficiency at the municipal level, more and more so-called appointees are being sent to prison or removed from office for various offences,’ Mironov noted.
Clearly, this point in SR’s programme needed to be highlighted during the election campaign. The significance of Mironov’s remarks, however, lies elsewhere. Deliberately or otherwise, he may have identified one of the key problems of public administration. It is the inability to reverse course when certain decisions prove clearly ineffective. Unlike the political systems of other countries, where the public agenda is formed largely horizontally, Russia’s vertical power structure is incapable of acknowledging that an approach approved or initiated from above was wrong
ORIGINAL: NG/Mironov Points to a Problem That Goes Beyond Local Government
