Farid Mukhametshin: ‘It is correctly said that in Russia they do not change horses in the middle of a stream’
The State Council of Tatarstan has held its 50th meeting
“We need to rally around national leader Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, like the whole of Russia, and ... work with the population on turnout," State Council Speaker Farid Mukhametshin called at a parliamentary meeting to support Vladimir Putin's election campaign. Next year, a new election cycle starts: presidential elections are held from March 15 to 17, parliamentary elections are held on September 8, and the elections of the president of Tatarstan are held in 2025. The big election race “warmed up” the agenda of the December session: the CEC presented a new “cut-up” of electoral districts, but did not apply for the use of remote electronic voting (DEG). “It turns out that the elections are without elections?" the leader of the Tatarstan faction of the Communist Party, Khafiz Mirgalimov, was perplexed.
It's time to prepare for the presidential elections
The upcoming election cycle, starting in March with the presidential campaign, will lead to the renewal of the highest authorities. The first officials of Russia and Tatarstan, as well as deputies of the State Council and the State Duma, will be re-elected in 2.5 years.
“Times are difficult, we must be with the current president. We consider his decision to go to the next term to be very correct and timely," the head of the parliament of the republic said. “We are preparing for the election campaign, I think we will also unanimously support the candidacy of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. It is impossible to weaken this work. We will involve our activists, both along the party line and along the parliamentary one.
Under the big pre-election race, the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Tatarstan has prepared a new scheme of electoral districts, covering almost 3 million voters of the republic. But it will have to be “tested” first in the presidential elections, and then in the republican parliamentary elections.
“Elections of deputies of the State Council are held next year, it is important for us to approve the scheme of single-mandate electoral districts for the next 10 years," said the chairman of the Central Election Commission, Andrey Kondratiev, invited to the podium, but already in the second half of the meeting. The Central Election Commission of the Republic of Tatarstan decided not to change the initial configuration — the former 50 single-member districts remained.
This corresponds to 50 seats in parliament, which are occupied by single-mandate deputies (as you know, the second half goes through party lists — author's note). At the same time, the CEC changed the boundaries of most districts, redistributing the number within them. Moreover, “neighbours” at the place of residence were not always united in one electoral district.
Out of 50 districts, five exceeded the norm, or How the Central Executive Committee of Tatarstan redrawn the districts
According to Andrey Kondratiev, the boundaries of the districts had to be changed due to migration. The districts adjacent to Kazan and Naberezhnye Chelny have increased the total number by almost 100 thousand people.
“Kazan has grown by 28 thousand people, Pestrechinsky district — by 22 thousand, Laishevo — by 15 thousand, Vysokaya Gora — 11 thousand, Tukayevsky district — by 9 thousand," the speaker cited the figures of the dynamics of human flows. “It grows somewhere, decreases somewhere. This led to the redistribution of districts," Kondratiev explained.
But 50 districts, built on the principle of “one district — one deputy” for a conditional rate of 58 thousand people, remained.
As a result, 45 districts gathered voters within the normal range, and in five districts with an increase of 11-12%. “We did this to avoid splitting up the districts," Kondratiev explained.
This turned out to be the five largest districts in terms of population, where voters will have the most difficult time. “These are the 38th Zainsky district, the 41st Buinsky District, the 43rd Priiksky District, the 44th Alekseevsky District and the 45th Apastovsky district," Kondratiev listed. In addition, two more districts were renamed. .
There are 30 electoral districts left in the big cities of the republic, but the borders have changed inside them. For example, in Kazan, six of the 16 districts were rewritten, in Naberezhnye Chelny they were left as is, the borders in two districts of Nizhnekamsk and Almetyevsk were moved. Kukmor was “crossed” with Suby, Arsk — with Baltasi. In the process of border movement, it was decided to eliminate the Gayazovsky electoral district, which united Chistopol and the outskirts of Aksubayevo and Novosheshminsk. The head of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Tatarstan explained this by a decrease in the population in these areas.
“Aktanysh, Menzelinsky and Agryz in the same district somehow look awkward, since there is a distance of 200 km between them," said deputy Azat Khamaev.
In justification of such a “cutting”, Andrei Kondratiev explained that members of election commissions would not have to travel, and the results would be transmitted through secure channels of the Elections GAS system.
Central Election Commission of the Republic of Tatarstan did not dare to open remote voting
Then the deputies asked if remote voting would be used. It turned out that the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Tatarstan did not apply for the use of remote electronic voting (DEG) in the upcoming presidential elections of the Russian Federation. “We did not apply for the DEG in the presidential elections of the Russian Federation, although we held a rehearsal," Andrei Kondratiev said. According to him, it does not always have a “positive effect”, so the burden will fall on the Elections GAS system. “From a technological point of view, Tatarstan will cope with any duty of the DEG. Unfortunately, there is no consensus in society on this issue. Not only for citizens, but also for public organisations," explained the head of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Tatarstan.
The head of the Communist Party faction, Khafiz Mirgalimov, was excited by the three-day voting format in the presidential elections in March. Let us remind that it has recently become known that for the first time in the country's history, presidential elections will be held for three days — from Friday, March 15 to Sunday, March 17, and will be held under the V sign, executed in the colours of the Russian tricolor. “Why three days? Is it the perfection of technology or did COVID help the authorities?" asked Mirgalimov. “And why without DAG? “It turns out that the elections are without elections?" the leader of the Tatarstan faction of the Communist Party, Khafiz Mirgalimov, was perplexed. However, the three-day format will not apply to other elections.
In his closing remarks, the Speaker of the State Council again called for uniting in support of the country's national leader.
“Representatives of different regions and parties spoke at the United Russia party congress. One of the veterans correctly said that in Russia they do not change horses at the crossing. I think we did the right thing. If a new person were found, how much time would have to be spent to get him into this role, so that he would be recognised by the world community," the speaker of the parliament reasoned.
he also added that the republic supports Minnikhanov's efforts in working with the federal center, preparing for the BRICS summit, which raises the republic's authority in the eyes of the world community.