Direct elections are a litmus test of the state of democracy in the country. The head of Nashe Pravo NGO (Our Right) Kalicha Umuralieva stated at the public hearings on the draft law on elections to local self-government bodies.
«In 1993, when we stood at the origins of development, it was decided to hold direct elections of mayor for municipal government and development of local self-government bodies. Unfortunately, this right was lost,» she said.
According to Kalicha Umuralieva, today, «the seventh floor» completely influences all local government bodies, interferes with their activities.
«The Constitution prescribes that there is state power and the municipal government with its functions. And we mixed the state and municipal authorities and got a mishmash,» she noted.
