BLAGOVESHCHENSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th July, 2020) Russia's Khabarovsk Territory has "a bunch of problems," and the recent arrest of a governor is not the only reason why people have taken to the streets, the governor of the neighboring Amur Region said on Tuesday.
"It seems to me that it is not only about the concrete governor, but about a bunch of problems on the whole, a bunch of people's discontent. People think that nobody cared about their opinion [Furgal won 70 percent of the vote in the 2018 governor election], that it is why we have such public reaction. Without respect for people, this situation cannot be resolved," Vasily Orlov said at a live stream on Instagram.
The governor added that people joining unauthorized rallies in Khabarovsk consider Furgal's arrest to be "an element of political struggle." He went on to note that "such high-profile cases should be covered as widely as possible in the press, so that people do not have questions."
Orlov expressed hope that a compromise will be found in Khabarovsk.
"It is absolutely unacceptable for such a large and important region to remain without leadership for a long time. The decision to send an acting governor there is absolutely correct. But whether he will cope with the task or not, people will decide in elections in a year," the official concluded.
Furgal, a 50-year-old businessman-turned-politician from the Liberal-Democratic Party (LDPR) and the then-sitting Khabarovsk governor, was detained on July 9 for an alleged role in a string of killings in the 2000s. He is in pre-trial detention in Moscow and denies the charges. Rallies in support of Furgal have been held in the Khabarovsk Territory since July 11, drawing thousands of people, despite the coronavirus-linked ban on mass gatherings.
President Vladimir Putin dismissed Furgal last week, appointing 39-year-old lawmaker Mikhail Degtyarev (also from LDPR) as acting governor of the Khabarovsk Territory.
