Elections for the post of mayor of Tomsk were declared invalid after both candidates – acting mayor of the city Mikhail Ratner and deputy of the Legislative Duma Maxim Luchshev – recused themselves on voting day. The corresponding statement was made by the chairman of the city duma, Chingis Akataev, RBC reports with reference to local media.
Luchshev announced his decision to refuse to participate in the elections the day before, April 10. At the same time, he did not name the reason for his recusal, but stated that he would “bring more benefit to Tomsk in a different capacity.” The next day, when the vote was to take place, Ratner also withdrew his candidacy, saying that he “would not want to become mayor at any cost.” “Today, when the situation has no alternative, this is wrong,” he stressed.
Now the Duma of Tomsk will appoint a new competition for the selection of candidates for the position of mayor. Any candidate will be able to take part in it, including those who have already participated, Akatayev said. At the same time, he called the incident a logical outcome, since “neither Luchshev nor Ratner would have won 25 votes.” In addition, in response to a question from journalists whether Luchshev could have been asked to withdraw his candidacy from the election, Akataev suggested that “both were asked to withdraw.”
A new date for the elections will be set by the Tomsk Duma Commission on Regulations and Legal Issues, whose meeting will be held at the end of April.
Ratner has been acting mayor of Tomsk since November 2020. Prior to that, since 2017, he was the deputy head of the city.
Source: Rosbalt
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