According to Mr. Veshnyakov, once the gubernatorial elections are abolished, the fate of a governor will be determined by a narrow group of people - about 200. These will be people from the presidential administration, who will prepare the decision, and local parliamentarians who will have to pass this decision. "There will be a temptation to adopt incorrect decisions for personal or financial reasons," Mr. Veshnyakov said, openly hinting at the risk of corruption.
Valery Khomyakov, director general of the Council for the National Strategy, points out above all that Mr. Veshnyakov has for the first time distanced himself from the president's initiatives in public. The political expert cited three possible reasons for such an unexpected behavior. Firstly, Mr. Veshnyakov could have simply taken offence with the Kremlin, as he is used to have all the election initiatives first tested in his department. In this case, he just wants to have his status quo restored and is trying to revive the natural monopoly of his department on the election reform in Russia.
According to the political expert, this version prompts another one: Mr. Veshnyakov felt the instability of his position and decided to leave with saved face. "The Kremlin has no formal claims to him, as Mr. Veshnyakov has always helped promote Kremlin initiatives. The current election system is mainly the result of his efforts. But this impeccability might have annoyed somebody."
Besides, Mr. Khomyakov continues, Mr. Veshnyakov's opposition could have been sanctioned by the Kremlin itself. There have already been attempts to remove excessively independent regional leaders but they failed for different reasons. And the Kremlin could always reserve the particular opinion of the independent election commission for future maneuvers.
