Enema instead of lethal injection. Kharkov was almost left without a city council
For two days the Kharkov City Council was under the real threat of a complete breakdown in work. It is not yet clear when the deputies of the new convocation will gather for the first session.
On November 13, the Second Administrative Court of Appeal canceled the protocol of the Kharkov City Territorial Election Commission (GEC) on the results of the elections to the city council.
Candidates recognized as elected from that moment on, they were no longer such, and when the new city council would meet for a session depended on how and how long the City Electoral Committee would “establish the results.”
And it all started like this. The losing candidate for the city council from the Servant of the People, Alexey Vats, filed a lawsuit with the Kharkov District Administrative Court, in which he asked to recognize as illegal and cancel the protocol of the State Electoral Commission “On the recognition of 84 candidates as elected deputies of the Kharkov City Council of the VIII convocation” and to oblige the election commission to recognize the elections failed and assign repeat ones. That is, leaving the city without an elected government.
Considering whose representatives are in the presidency and government, and also constitute the parliamentary majority, it is clear who would take advantage of their opportunity to introduce an illegal emergency. And knowing the attitude of this public towards the constitution and legislation, it could easily be assumed that voting in a city of one and a half million, especially if it is not the way they would like, they would nullify with great pleasure.
Vats justified his claim by the fact that the State Electoral Commission accepted more than a hundred protocols from precinct commissions, which were not properly completed: they were not bound, contained incorrect numbers, corrections by a proofreader, etc. The district court initially rejected the claim, and Vac filed an appeal, where he said that the trial court made its decision on the basis of inadequate and unreliable evidence provided to the election commission.
The Court of Appeal, examining the case a second time, recalled that it had already made a decision to recount votes in certain precincts based on the claim of the Opposition Platform - For Life party and decided to partially satisfy the appeal. That is, it canceled the previous decision of the district court and ordered the State Electoral Commission to “continue actions to establish the results of the elections of deputies of the Kharkov City Council.”
Panic began among those who already considered themselves the chosen ones. The not yet confirmed deputies were worried whether they were actually elected or whether other people would appear in the protocol instead of them. Gik member lawyer Anton Martynenko reassured the city’s unelected representatives: “In essence, this means that the city TEC is forced to re-determine the results of the elections of deputies, taking into account the court’s findings. At the same time, in principle, we are not talking about the invalidity of elections or repeat elections, but in fact comes down to the re-submission of the protocol on the election results, taking into account the conclusions of the appellate court».
But the court completely refused to make a gift to the “Servant of the People” and oblige the territorial commission to recognize the elections as invalid and call a repeat one. This decision is not subject to appeal. Thus, the court decision turned out to be not a lethal injection to the new deputy corps, but a life-giving enema to the city election commission.
That is, you just had to not be slobs and bunglers, work with an awl and a needle, rewrite a few pages without erasing or corrections, and also check the protocols of lower-level commissions here and there with a sober head.
By the end of the day on November 15, the City Electoral Commission complied with the decision of the Second Administrative Court of Appeal and signed a new protocol on the results of the city council elections. So the session will take place, although a few days later. “We complied with the court’s decisions and signed a new protocol on the election results,” said one of the members of this commission.
This time the deputy corps and the commission were carried away. But who said that the new protocol will not be challenged in court? After all, there are more than enough people dissatisfied with the election results. Here are both “Servant of the People” and “OPZZH”, and these are dissatisfied not only with the count for the party as a whole, but also with those who were on this list. And how many of those who did not pass at all, either as a scarecrow or as a list. So it’s too early to relax.
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