Elections without monitoring
Central election Commission refuses to monitor the legitimacy of the election. As told to two people close to the leadership of the CEC, concluded earlier contract for the monitoring parameters and conditions of the legitimacy of the elections of the state Duma” is likely to be terminated. The official representative of the election Commission failed to provide a prompt review.
On the need to organize such monitoring has previously said the Chairman of the Central election Commission, Ella Pamfilova. Secretary of the CEC, Maya Grishina explained that it is necessary to conduct based on complaints and signals that are propagated in the media and social media.
After this the election Commission has included the ordering of monitoring the main events of the Russian center for training election technologies (rtsoit) in the CEC. Rtsoit organized the competition, according to its results won noncommercial partnership “Fund of assistance to reforms of local self-government”, to be published in late July on the public procurement portal of the Protocol. Over 7.8 million RUB, the contractor had to develop a mechanism to address factors that affect the credibility of the elections, to assess the degree of public confidence in their results, and to give the CEC recommendations on risk management delegitimize the elections. At the competition, the Foundation had only one competitor is the national centre of public control in the sphere of housing and communal services. Moreover, as reported by the newspaper Znak.com organizations-participants of the tender had previously had a relationship in the development of grant funds.
Foundation former assistant
The victory Fund, from the start looked doubtful, said a source close to the Kremlin. Fund-winner, as his only competitor, mainly implementing projects in the sphere of housing and communal services, to information on its website. It also indicates the mailing address of the Fund — Georgievsky lane, 2. This is a new building of the State Duma. Director is Olga Bozhko. She said that in fact, the Director performs the duties of caretaker, and for the implementation of the contract in accordance with its Deputy Andrey Bolshunov.
Bolshunov, a longtime friend of the member of CEC, former Deputy of the state Duma Valery Galchenko, says close to the Kremlin source . It Galchenko was responsible for the project from the CEC, reported TASS. In the media Bolshunov appeared as assistant Galchenko as a state Duma Deputy and the head of his staff in the Duma elections of 1999.
He Bolshunov said that was assistant Galchenko on a voluntary basis, but no help in getting the order from his former boss was not. “These assistants to the Deputy may be 35. Galchenko knows all the politicians in Russia. When the topic (monitoring) arose, he talked with many, including me. Said, if you want to go in the competition, but no support from his side was not,” said Bolshunov.
Galchenko on Thursday all day did not respond to calls and messages correspondent .
The Director of “the pyramid”
Before working with Galchenko Bolshunov mentioned in the media as accused of major financial fraud. In the 1990s he was Director of the Yenisei trust company, organized on the principle of a financial pyramid, wrote the newspaper “Today” with reference to the version of the investigation. The investigators suspected that the company has collected 20 thousand depositors $12 million, and the Director disappeared. He also, according to the newspaper, had allegedly invested the money in shares of the Moscow hotel “Vostok”, and then sold them to another firm.
In 1997, the public Prosecutor of Krasnoyarsk have issued a warrant for his arrest, and shortly thereafter he was declared internationally wanted. In 2000 Bolshunova was arrested, but three months later was released. Media reported that it happened due to the fact that he actively cooperated with the investigation.
“It was a long time ago, at the dawn of formation of market economy, — said Bolshunov. Company went bankrupt and was investigated. Something I have tried to find, but found nothing — case closed”. He confirms that tried to sell a stake in the hotel, but claims he did it to return money to investors.
Bolshunov added that he had heard that the CEC decided to hold the election monitoring, which he got the contract. To comment on this decision he refused.
The controversial question whether such monitoring, says elections expert Andrei Buzin. “It turns out that the organizers of the elections themselves organize a contest to find someone who will appreciate their work. Logical, if such a tender was announced by the President, who is the guarantor of rights and freedoms,” he says. Better yet, if monitoring were not one, but two or three organisations with experience representing a diversity of views, Buzin said.
