Kalmykian SC rules that Elista residents shall elect their city Mayor

The Supreme Court (SC) of Kalmykia has defined an election system of Mayor of the republic's capital Elista. The city head will be elected by all the townspeople with suffrage, not just by the deputies of the city assembly.

The 2007 decision of the Elista City Assembly, valid until recently, ran that the election of the head of the administration should be direct and universal, that is any citizen could nominate himself and take part in voting. However, the decision published on December 17, 2009, on amending the city charter radically changed the election procedure: only deputies of the city assembly and only from among themselves could elect the Mayor. This amendment, published in the end of the last year, was adopted back in 2005, that is, before the 2007 decision about the universal election.

Supporters of the "universal" variant stand for the maximum representation, while the advocates of the "deputies'" scenario believe that it is economical and simple by its voting procedure.

"The municipal elections of Mayor of Elista are subject to universal, equal and direct suffrage at secret vote in accordance with the order and the terms as established by the federal legislation and the city charter of Elista, adopted on June 16, 2004," the newspaper "Steppe Mosaic" quotes the decision of the court; and the "Rossiskaya Gazeta" adds that the hearings lasted for two days.