27 июня 2007 Года
June 27, 2007. MOSCOW CITY DUMA APPOINTS LUZHKOV FOR A FIFTH TERM AS MAYOR
  The Moscow City Duma, the city’s legislative body, has approved Yuri Luzkhkov’s candidacy for a fifth term as mayor. Luzhkov was nominated for the post on June 23 by President Vladimir Putin. 32 of the 35 deputies in the Moscow City Duma voted in favor of his candidacy.
Luzhkov has been mayor of Moscow since 1992, when he was appointed by former President Boris Yeltsin. He was subsequently re-elected as mayor by popular vote in 1996 (gaining 89.92% of the votes), 1999 (69.89%) and 2003 (74.82%). Following electoral reforms introduced by President Vladimir Putin in 2005, the heads of Russia’s regions (including its two cities enjoying federal status – Moscow and St. Petersburg) must be nominated by the President and approved by the local legislatures.
Of the 35 deputies in the Moscow City Duma, 28 belong to the United Russia party (to which Luzhkov also belongs). Its leader, Andrei Metelsky, mentioned on numerous occasions that his party would support Luzhkov’s candidacy. Four more seats in the Moscow City Duma belong to the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, and three seats are held by the party Yabloko.
The head of the Communist fraction in the City Duma, Vladimir Ulas, stated that his party would vote against Luzhkov’s candidacy. He said that not only Luzhkov’s reputation as mayor was being considered his party, but also his high position in the ruling United Russia party. Ulas stated that the Communist party was opposed to United Russia’s politics and would therefore vote against Luzhkov.
However Sergei Mitrokhin of the Yabloko fraction said that he would support Luzhkov’s candidacy based on the mayor’s economic and social policies which, in Mitrokhin’s opinion, have helped achieve a high standard of living for Moscow’s residents. Mitrokhin added that Luzhkov had earned a high level of trust as a politician.
***
Before the voting began on Luzhkov’s candidacy, the Speaker of the Moscow City Duma, Vladimir Platonov of the United Russia party, introduced the mayor. Following Platonov’s speech, the President’s representative to the Central Federal District (of which Moscow is a part), Georgi Poltavchenko, gave a speech about the state of Moscow under Luzhkov. He stated that Luzhkov had proven himself an energetic administrator and that his social and economic successes were significant not only in Moscow, but in all of Russia. Poltavchenko added that prior to the vote on June 27, he had conducted a series of consultations about the mayor’s candidacy. These meetings confirmed that Luzhkov enjoyed a broad base of support among businessmen, trade union representatives, politicians, educators and social workers.
Finally Yuri Luzhkov personally asked the City Duma to support his fifth term as Moscow’s mayor. He told the deputies that he saw another term as an opportunity to advance necessary economic and social programs in the capital, adding that much had been accomplished in the last few years. He stated that Moscow was the locomotive of Russia’s development in many fields, including the economy, culture, science, education, healthcare and other social programs. The Moscow city government has done much to advance economic growth in the capital: the city’s GDP grew by 130% during the last 2 years, and is expected to double by 2009. By 2011 the GDP per capita in Moscow should reach 1 million rubles (approximately 39,000 U.S. dollars), which is on the level of West European countries.
In the last two years Moscow’s industrial production has grown by 58%. By the end of 2005, it has reached its 1990 level (Russia’s GDP declined drastically following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991). However Luzhkov stated that the priority for Moscow’s government had been achieving high growth rates in the innovative sectors of the economy. Due to the need to provide skilled, professional workers to the high-tech fields of the economy, Luzhkov also prioritized the city’s higher education system. By 2008 investments into this area will increase by three times.
However the mayor emphasized that his administration views the economy as a means to improve the standard of living of Muscovites. Social spending will continue to occupy almost half of the city’s budget, and programs designed to help pensioners (of whom there are over 2 million in Moscow) and disabled persons will be expanded. The city is currently focusing on removing living barriers for invalids (i.e. installing ramps, elevators and other disabled-friendly objects), and especially on providing professional education to this category of Muscovites.
Concerning working Muscovites, Luzhkov said that the key is to allow them to “work hard and earn well.” By the beginning of 2007, the average monthly wage in Moscow reached 20,000 rubles (around 800 U.S. dollars). Real growth in wages over the last two years reached 56.8%. Luzhkov promised to continue politics aimed at increasing workers’ wages; by 2011 the average monthly wage in the city is expected to be 43,000 rubles (around 1700 U.S. dollars).
Luzhkov also promised to solve the problem of illegal real estate investment schemes by 2009 and to address other housing difficulties in the near future. In 2008 a major housing maintenance program will be launched, with each building in Moscow serving as an individual component of the project. A complete inventory of all technical equipment in every building will be completed, and the respective residents will be familiarized with the details. Luzhkov also said that his administration would insist that the federal government finance repairs in buildings that were handed over to the city in poor shape. In order to meet the target of making every building compliant with all safety and housing regulations by 2014, overall spending on housing repairs during the next four years will be over three times as large as during the preceding four years and will top 500 billion rubles (approximately 19.5 billion U.S. dollars).
Finally Luzhkov promised to tackle problems with infrastructure and transportation, as well as to increase government’s accessibility to citizens. “All of these goals are not merely pre-election promises, but actual plans that are already in the process of realization. My most important goal is to continue improving the standard of living of Muscovites in the near future,” concluded Luzhkov.
Translated by Artem V. Zagorodnov
July 2, 2007
|
