The end of grassroots democracy: United Russia party wants to equate deputies of all levels with civil servants

At the same time, the representative power is finally transferred under the full control of the executive.

Yelena Ivanova, Natalia Seibil

When Pavel Krasheninnikov, Chairman of the Duma Committee on State Building and Legislation, presented the draft law "On General Principles of Organization of Public Power in the Subjects of the Russian Federation", it seemed that the matter was about one thing: deputies of all levels would again increase salaries and pensions.

Duma deputies are people who are not offended by fate in the Russian state. Their actual salaries are equal to the salaries of ministers and amount to almost 400 thousand rubles a month, although the monetary remuneration of a State Duma deputy is more modest - "only" about 85 thousand rubles. Based on it, the deputies are charged a pension. The deputy served in parliament for 5 to 10 years, he is entitled to a supplement to his pension in the amount of 55%, or 46 thousand 626 rubles. Duma centenarians, those who have pressed the button in the plenary hall for more than 10 years, are entitled to 75% and will receive an additional pension in the amount of 63,581 rubles.

Economists are rather indifferent to both the size of the pensions of the people's representatives, and to their "wishlist" from time to time to raise it. Financial analyst, Ph.D. in economics Mikhail Belyayev says:

- The deputies are paid pensions from the state budget, and we look at the deputies' pension as the figure that is unattainable for the majority of citizens. But in the general budget, it does not occupy a very large place. There will be money for this. The deputies' pensions have rather a moral and psychological impact on everything else than a purely material one. I am speaking here as a macroeconomist.

Andrey Vernikov, head of the investment analysis and training department at UNIVER Capital, agrees with him. He believes that the issue of raising pensions for deputies goes beyond the economy:

- Deputies consider themselves superior to the people, not servants, that's for sure. In general, if you need to finance something, there is a special government fund, there is no problem with that. The deputies receive pensions from the general budget, but if any problems arose, they would be resolved. With the 43 cut off the price of oil per barrel, and now it is at the moment of 83.6, super profits are obtained. Therefore, the deputies will never have any problems.

Yelena Shuvalova, a Moscow City Duma deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, believes that the plans to increase pensions for the deputies speak only of one thing - the elected have lost touch with the lives of their voters. As an example, Shuvalova cites the sensational scandalous statements of her colleague in the Moscow Duma Natalya Metlina. She indignantly told that pensioners should ask for help not from the state, but from their children, and Moscow pensioners with 20 thousand have nothing to complain at all.

- Deputies receive sky-high salaries. And it is a management tool. I think so. Either you serve the authorities and receive a salary and a high pension, or you continue to defend the people's interests and sit and think about what you will buy bread for. I think this is a kind of bribery. They are allocated mansions at the expense of the state, they are there behind a five-meter fence - I went, looked, above the Berlin Wall - and do not see what is happening behind him, - Deputy Shuvalov is indignant at this injustice.

But there is no place for such a word - "justice" in the market economy, the economist Belyaev states with sadness in his voice, although the psychological moment is very important in solving socio-economic issues.

It is well known that only the last fool will sit by the river and will not be able to get drunk. Our deputies can be called in different words, but there are no simpletons among 450 parliamentarians.

Well, what about the function of the state, which should restrict unfair distribution?

This time the problem is even deeper than the increase in salaries and pensions for deputies of all levels, how sad it was for 40 million Russian pensioners.

Defamation at elections, preventing unwanted deputies, fighting the obstinate who insist on their right to be elected - these rude methods that cause discontent among the population may remain in the past if the Klishas-Krashennikov law is now passed.

When a deputy is elected to the State Duma, according to the law, he cannot do business. Work in the Duma can only be combined with teaching or consulting activities. Now they want to extend this rule to municipal deputies.

- We tried to count. We have about 300 thousand deputies in Russia. This is a lot, if you pay salaries and pensions like in the State Duma, a serious blow to the budget, says political analyst Ilya Grashchenkov.

In addition to expenses from the budget, there will also be a problem of who will become a deputy. For example, there are now about 1,500 municipal deputies in Moscow. Every tenth of them receives a salary. The rest work for free. The maximum they can count on is 1200 rubles to reimburse mobile communications. Therefore, businessmen, people with their own income and with a desire to change their lives not only for themselves, but also for others, went to the deputies. Under the new proposal, if businessmen want to come to power, no matter at what level, they will have to give everything.

- It will be difficult to find deputies who would like to work on an exempt basis. And where to get permanent? What is it, such a Soviet Union will be, where all sorts of retired locksmiths and pensioners worked as deputies? The problem is that if all deputies are equated with civil servants, then they will all receive salaries and become civil servants, on whom a number of restrictions are imposed. - says Ilya Grashchenkov.

Another logical conclusion from the new initiative is that if a deputy has the status of a civil servant, he will perform only those tasks that the state sets for him. In the country, practically all people working in power - executive, presidential, governor - are civil servants. Municipal deputies have been removed from the system of state power until today, they were in fact the only representatives elected by the people. The latter, not strapped into a common harness "in an amicable way," fit into the general vertical, Ilya Grashchenkov explains the latest initiatives from the Duma:

- In any case, the freemen are suppressed. Deputies get into the state system, receive a salary, the order and rules of their work are determined by the higher authorities. Representatives of higher bodies participate in their work, for example, when appointing ministers in the Legislative Assembly, when approving the heads of municipalities ... Not the legislature, but don't understand what it is. Now called public.

The "municipal umbrellas", noisy assemblies and independence will be a thing of the past. And the people will again say - they are all the same in power, they row and steal, and their salaries are high, and their pensions are high.

Deputy Yelena Shuvalova complains that such decisions are passed in our country in a quiet way:

- People can always influence everything - by popular protest. Everything has been blocked for us now. It is very convenient to ban all rallies under the pretext of an epidemiological situation. But there is an opportunity to write letters, talk about it. We must write and be indignant.

The authorities have learned to extinguish such discontent. If somewhere, indeed, there is indignation, they will again announce the next one-time payment. What is not a way to solve the problem, fortunately, after the adoption of amendments to the Constitution and elections to the State Duma, experience has been gained. And the last bastion of people's democracy will fall for some 10,000 rubles.