Federalism and Local Politics in Russia

The struggle for power in the Urals 221criminals to get elected. Overall it appeared as though Governor Rossel hadbeen able to push United Russia’s leadership towards a position that suitedhim more than it suited them. 67 United Russia was subsequently to changeits position on Chernetsky and, after an attempt to remove him throughlegal instruments, he was to be restored to the higher reaches of the regionallist for United Russia and he was to be the party’s candidate for the 2008mayoral election (endorsed by an overwhelming majority of regional UnitedRussia delegates). The lesson from the election was, first, that public opinionin cities like Ekaterinburg would no longer tolerate the type of alliance withorganized crime that had occurred in the past. It also demonstrated anelectorate that would willingly vote for Vladimir Putin as President butwould not necessarily vote consistently for the ‘state vertical’, in the sense ofvoting at all levels for whoever could be portrayed as a pro-Putin candidate.As a result, the winning model for United Russia appeared to be not asimple top-down approach, but a reciprocal alliance between levels of government,including local self-government.The fall of ex-OPS UralmashIf the election campaign saved the mayoral regime in Ekaterinburg, it was tohave the opposite effect on OPS Uralmash, bringing to an end its decadelongprogress 68 towards legitimacy and political power. However, the catalystfor its downfall was a dispute over centralization within the criminal world,between Moscow and the regions. On 15 September 2004 Khabarov called apublic rally in the centre of Ekaterinburg of 1,500 members of the Uralmash,Central and Blue gangs. They were called to debate how to resist what wasseen as an attempt by the Moscow (Caucasian) underworld to infiltrate theirterritory, operating through traditional criminal structures, represented inEkaterinburg by the ‘Blues’. The response would be a gang war by OPSUralmash and OPS Centre to take control of the Blues in order to preventtheir becoming a vehicle for takeover by Moscow. 69Khabarov’s boldness provoked a reaction from the Centre (via the federaldistrict). In December 2004, Khabarov was arrested for extortion and on 27January 2005 was found hanged in his cell in Ekaterinburg. The death ofKhabarov shocked the political elite of the region and contributed to a seriousdecline in ex-OPS Uralmash’s influence. Within months its leadingmembers were either jailed or in hiding abroad. No ex-OPS Uralmash candidateswere fielded for the municipal elections of 2005 (apart from anythingelse, election as city deputy no longer gave immunity from arrest) and of itsallies from the anti-mayoral bloc of 2002–3, only Gabinsky was re-elected.Inside the bear’s tentFrom 2004 the leadership of United Russia 70 began to work on makingpeace between Chernetsky and Rossel, presumably in the expectation that