NOVOSIBIRSK, April 11 Deputies of the Tomsk City Duma at the session on Tuesday, they could not elect the mayor of the city, since one of the candidates recoiled, and the second, Acting Mayor Mikhail Ratner, did not want to be a non-alternative candidate, a new competition will be announced.
On March 15, the competition commission for the election of the mayor of Tomsk selected two out of eight contenders for this post — Ratner and deputy of the regional Duma from the Communist Party Maxim Luchshev. The deputies had to determine the new mayor by secret ballot. The winner had to get at least 25 votes.
«Application has been received from the candidate for the post of Mayor of Tomsk city Maxim Alekseevich Luchshev about removing him from the competitive procedure… The reason is not specified,» said Chingis Akataev, chairman of the City Duma, at the session.
In turn, Ratner, who remained a no-alternative candidate, said that he «would not want to become mayor at any cost», considers the current situation wrong, and therefore withdraws his candidacy, since «the mayor should be chosen on an alternative basis.» As a result, the City Duma was forced to make a decision to recognize the election of the mayor of Tomsk as invalid.
«The elections did not take place, but life does not end there. We will prepare for a new contest … We will probably announce it at the next Duma. Whether it will be in the summer or in September of this year, we will already decide together. I cannot but say about the communists … If 5-6 more such competitions will be held, I think you will definitely take these 5-6 key places in the region and the city. Therefore, you can continue to stick to your tactics,» Akatayev said.
In October 2022, the Legislative Duma of the Tomsk Region adopted a decision canceling the direct election of the mayor of Tomsk. According to the amendments to the regional law «On Certain Issues of the Formation of Local Self-Government Bodies of Municipalities», now the mayor of Tomsk will be elected not by residents by direct vote, but by city deputies from among the candidates proposed by the competition commission. The relevant amendments to the city charter were made by the Tomsk City Council by a majority of votes on December 6.
Tomsk was left without a mayor in November 2020 after the arrest and suspension of the elected mayor of the city, Ivan Klein, against whom a criminal case was initiated for abuse of power.