vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #151 / Opinion / Reading article...

Has Primorye’s duma entered a time tunnel, or is it just a living example of the old saying: Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it?

On Sept. 26, the Krai Duma voted to unseat Vladivostok’s embattled Mayor Victor Cherepkov. The duma was following in the footsteps of President Yeltsin, who dismissed Cherepkov in 1994, only to find his decision reversed by the courts last year. Cherepkov returned to power.

This time, the duma said it had to act. Cherepkov, duma members allege, has socked away 70 billion rubles that was intended to fund services. (Each apartment’s utility bill includes a line item for trash collection, for example, yet that didn’t stop a six-week garbage strike last summer because the city wouldn’t pay the trash collectors.) The duma claims Cherepkov is storing the money for his election bid.

Furthermore, when the duma tried to bring a suit to remove Cherepkov, he adopted a remarkably successful strategy: He ignored all court appointments. By law, proceedings couldn’t continue without Cherepkov present, so throughout the summer the duma’s suit stalemated.

For his part, Cherepkov has refused to accept the validity of the duma’s action. He claims he is being hounded by political enemies. He shrugged off the vote, saying it was no worse than the patter of rain on his head. There is some truth to his claims; Cherepkov has battled with a hostile duma ever since his return to office.

It seems apparent is that the duma overstepped its authority. Only the courts have authority to remove the mayor, most legal experts agree. Nevertheless, to regain public trust, Cherepkov needs to cooperate with the courts, not stonewall.

The duma has created the absurd situation in which there are, theoretically at least, two city administrations. The action could backfire, increasing Cherepkov’s popularity, as Yeltsin inadvertently did three years ago. It’s galling to see an incompetent mayor pull through battle after battle unscathed. But as long as his opponents use extra-constitutional means to oppose him, one might see a strange justice in all this.

Maybe there’s a lesson here — for any duma member willing to take a glance at the city’s recent history.