Chaly risks turning into Sevastopol Kolomoisky
Simferopol, August 22 (Navigator, Andrey Smolin) - Remember how you wondered why the “people's mayor” of Sevastopol Alexei Chaly resigned soon after the “Russian Spring”? They said that the owner of the black sweater was simply “eaten” by experienced bureaucrats. Chaly himself insisted that he did not want to be in politics and wanted to focus on attracting investment. But in the end, everything turned out to be not so simple!
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The situation today looks like Chaly’s resignation from the post of leader of Sevastopol was simply a cunning maneuver. He avoided responsibility for the difficulties of the first months of the so-called. “transition period” - in the end, all the big shots fell on Governor Sergei Menyailo. And the folk hero, meanwhile, entered into the role of the “gray eminence.”
This was confirmed by the formation of United Russia election lists. All candidates for passing seats were approved by Chaly (the promise to leave politics turned out to be deceit). The first positions on the United Russia list are occupied by people who are personally loyal to Chaly, some of whom also receive his salary. It is not difficult to guess whose interests such deputies will primarily defend in the future, and what their degree of freedom will be. And we won’t even mention their professionalism as legislators.
EdRo has already announced that it will take the absolute majority of mandates in the new legislative assembly. Thus, Chaly will have full power in Sevastopol. It is his faction that wants to decide whether to approve the candidacy of the new governor. But there will be no popular elections of the mayor, for which Sevastopol fought for 20 years, in the city. A kind of legislative assembly a la Tavrida Electric.
The idea of elections was personally rejected by Chaly, representing the city charter in the legislative council shortly after the victory of the revolution. Some deputies and social activists tried to object to him. They reminded that elections of city leaders exist in both Moscow and St. Petersburg, and their ban in Sevastopol would be a real crime. However, Chaly insisted on the behind-the-scenes election of the governor by deputies.
What can such a concentration of power in one hand lead to? An indicative example: when the Russian authorities declared a moratorium on construction throughout Sevastopol, work did not stop at Tavrida - the enterprise calmly continued construction and expansion.
They say that local business has its nose to the wind and, realizing who will soon “steer” in Sevastopol, is in a hurry to build relationships with Alexei Mikhailovich’s entourage. Yes, he himself is a very large businessman (although he transferred the assets to the management of others). Of course, this is not a billionaire on the scale of Igor Kolomoisky, and, unlike the latter, he is a positive hero, but the temptation to use power for personal interests is clearly present.
The prosecutor's office has already pointed out the corruption risks of the city charter as amended by Chaly. She implied that the governor and the head of government could be different people. The dubious clause had to be canceled by the deputies at the request of the supervisory agency. By the way, today you can hear questions about the lack of a transparent report and the spending of millions that came during the “Russian Spring” into the accounts of “35 Batteries” - the brainchild of Chaly.
And note: even the rules for the upcoming elections are written in the interests of moneybags. Majoritarian districts, on Chaly’s initiative, were cut up in such a way that they cover a huge territory with a population of 40 thousand people. How can such a district be “educated” by an ordinary public citizen?
Meanwhile, Chaly's headquarters has already made a serious mistake. A few weeks ago, the whole of Sevastopol was covered with posters “Russian Spring... What’s next?” According to the idea of Tomsk PR specialists, billboards were supposed to intrigue the average person. However, the idea did not work - the color scheme of the advertisement was too reminiscent of Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s outdoor advertising. Rumors even spread around Sevastopol that this was sabotage from the Maidan. Competitors also took advantage of the situation by hanging leaflets on Ostryaky with slightly modified text: “Russian Spring... What's next? Rising prices and tariffs, the authorities are to blame!”
The competitors' leaflets were hastily torn down by utility workers. This story didn’t make it into the local press, but it didn’t seem to teach Chaly’s staff anything. With such talent, the rating of the hero of the “Russian Spring” can be ruined right by mid-September.
However, even without that, the question arises: have the Sevastopol residents bet on the right “horse”, will it lead us there?
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