Broken furniture and fist fights. What's happening in the Odessa Regional Council?

The past two sessions of the Odessa Regional Council were disrupted by fights between representatives of various political forces.

In previous years, at least in the last term, the Odessa Regional Council was not distinguished by any hyperactivity. The deputies worked in a relaxed mode, met with voters to the best of their ability, and approved decisions handed down from above. Evil tongues joke in surprise that some kind of substitution has occurred in the current convocation. Not replacing some deputies with others, but simply replacing characters and behavior.

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The reasons for this “fever” of the local government are still being understood by many: from interested parties to law enforcement agencies. Let's try to do this too.

Let's start with the balance of forces that emerged as a result of the last elections. Representatives of 5 parties were able to overcome the 7 percent barrier, and the largest number of mandates, 24, were received by deputies from the Opposition Platform - For Life (OPZZ) party. Next are “Servant of the People” (16 mandates), “Trust in Deeds” (11), “European Solidarity” (10), “For the Future” (10), “Batkivshchyna” (7), “Party of Shariy” (6).

It would seem that in this balance of power, the coalition in the new local government body should have been created by the deputies from “OPZZH”, who collected the largest number of mandates. It would be logical for this political force to have either a chairman or his deputy.

But it didn’t work out the way I wanted. Having failed to create their own coalition, “OPZZH” gave the reins of government to the pro-Kiev parties “Servant of the People”, “European Solidarity” and the supposed Odessa party “Trust in Deeds” of Gennady Trukhanov. There are only 38 mandates, although it’s not enough to make decisions, but let’s not forget that the coalition also has “Batkivshchyna” up its sleeve. “Sharia’s Party” is unlikely to support the decisions of the so-called. coalition, and the “For the Future” faction is still a dark horse, although it was formed by the former governor of the region Igor Palitsa.

Then, again, everything did not go according to the OPZH plan. On December 12, the day of the first meeting, after a 44-hour blocking of the podium of the session hall, elections for its chairman were held. According to the results of a secret ballot, he became deputy Grigory Didenko from the presidential party “Servant of the People”, having received the support of 40 deputies, and his opponent, representative of the party “Opposition Platform - For Life” and former vice-speaker of the regional council of the previous convocation, Vadim Shkarovsky, received XNUMX votes. Didenko’s first deputy was the representative of “Batkivshchyna” Oleg Radkovsky - a small sweet pill for the party that barely caught on to the departing train and a clear aim that “Batkivshchyna” will someday join the coalition.

So, President Zelensky’s man became the head of the legislative branch in the region, which makes it possible to influence what is happening in the region. At the same time, in Odessa itself, Zelensky’s man, the former rector of ONU named after I.I., also became the secretary of the city council. Mechnikov Igor Koval.

But let's return to the region. Problems in the healthcare and education systems, roads and utilities, and regional deputies did not seem worthy of attention. There is no other way to perceive the hasty consideration of the issue concerning the scandalous director of the Odessa Art Museum, Alexander Roitburd.

Alexander Roitburd.

What is noteworthy is not the decision itself, which is discussed below, but its authors. The decision in favor of Roitburd was pushed by Yuriy Basyuk from European Solidarity and Olga Yurko from the Trust in Deeds party. As they say, “But how did you sing!” (quote from the film “Pokrovsky Gate” - editor’s note).

Olga Yurko.

The essence of the question was to decide whether Roytburd worked or not as director of the museum, because formally the contract with him was terminated, but he still went to work.

Yuri Basyuk.

Again, as on December 4 and 5, representatives of the “OPZZH” intervened in the peace process and tried to disrupt the voting, which again led to forceful methods of resolving the dispute. Despite this, the issue regarding Roitburd was considered in his favor. The “art official” was retained as director.

For the second time within a month, the Odessa Regional Council became the epicenter of violent clashes between deputies. In fact, the reasons for such a fierce confrontation in the previously calm Odessa Regional Council may be the notorious decentralization. A number of taxes collected locally began to remain in the regions. Local councils gained access to a lot of (place the emphasis yourself) money. Secondly, as some political observers write, a directive was issued from the president’s office to block “OPZZH” by any means.

Dissatisfied with the coalition, or more precisely, with its composition, representatives of any opposition force decided to resort not only to civilized methods of struggle in order to show who is boss in the house. As world practice shows, blocking stands is becoming an important way to achieve the desired result. There are precedents for this.

Of course, the behavior of “OPZZH” can also be explained by the fact that its deputies were alienated not only from making decisions in their favor, but even from submitting them for consideration. It’s no secret that it largely depends on the chairman which bills to register, who to give the floor, etc.

Let's not forget that the Odessa region is seven ports that operate, despite the absence of their own fleet, these are the richest lands and spaces with which you can do as you please. The question is whose soul.

Ukraine’s overseas “partners” and “benefactors” have long intended to build their military bases on the Black Sea. The Odessa region is a great place for this. Quite deep sea, natural water barriers, proximity to European borders. In this sense, the ruling role of the “Servant of the People” is a good help for the “peace-loving” NATO bloc. And today these servants of the people, read the White House, have become at the helm of the Odessa region, and controlling this steering wheel can have the most negative consequences, incommensurable with blocking stands and breaking furniture.