Federalism and Local Politics in Russia

228 Hellmut Wollmann and Elena Gritsenko2 The competency and scope of legislation on LSGThe history of legislation on LSG in the ‘late-perestroika’ Soviet Unionbegan with the 1990 Law, which in an unprecedented move broke with theSoviet doctrine of the ‘unity of the State’ by recognizing and introducing thenotions of LSG and ‘questions of local significance’ as a self-standing leveland responsibility. It was obviously conceived as a federal ‘frame’ law, whichwas intended to leave legislative scope to member republics and regions. 8The 1991 Federal Law which was passed by the Russian Parliament (RSFSRSupreme Soviet) on 6 July 1991 was employed by President Yeltsin as a toolof ‘nation-building’ in that, on the one hand, it was meant to supersede the(rival) USSR Federal legislation and, on the other, to put the establishmentof LSG on a common legal footing throughout the RSFSR. 9In the wake of Yeltsin’s power coup of 3 and 4 October 1993, the NationalParliament was dissolved, as were the regional and local councils that hadbeen elected in March 1991, and the 1991 Federal Law was largely suspended.However, the Federal Constitution of 1993 provided LSG with surprisinglyprogressive rights. With regard to future legislation on LSG, theFederal Constitution incorporated a compromise, which had been struckbetween the federal level and the regions. In the Federal Treaties of 31March 1992 legislation on LSG was placed in the category of ‘shared legislativepowers’ to be exercised either by the federal level or by the regions (seeArticle 72.1 letter n, Federal Constitution). Small wonder that, due to thegenerality and vagueness of this constitutional provision (typical of such‘dilatory compromises’ between rivalling actors) its interpretation was proneto become a bone of contention in the continuing struggle between the federaland the regional levels. 10The 1995 Federal Law which was enacted on 28 August 1995 after aprotracted legislative process and much controversy 11 can largely be seen asa ‘frame law’, in that the federal level made noticeably restrained use of its‘shared legislative power’ and left considerable legislative scope in theregulation of LSG to the regional administrations.During the late 1990s, also benefiting from the federal level’s power erosionin the late Yeltsin era, the regions (Federal Subjects) made ample use oftheir ‘shared legislative powers’ –with a spree of regional legislative provisionson LSG many of which were seen as violating constitutional lawswhich were 12 meant to protect and guarantee the creation of LSG. 13Perceived as taking ‘the character of a chain reaction’ 14 this wave of regionalregulations on LSG contributed to what was a kind of ‘legal separatism’ andthere were fears that the Federation would soon fall apart. 15Having been elected President on 26 March 2000, Vladimir Putinembarked upon re-establishing the Russian Federation as a ‘strong state’ byreasserting the federal government’s influence and control over the regionaland local levels. 16 Hence, in preparing and adopting the 2003 Federal Law,the Federal Government (in stark contrast to the previous 1995 Federal