The conflict between the city organization of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the administration broke out when the plans for the reconstruction of the city centre were made public in summer.
Mr. Shatravka, head of the city administration, insisted on the replacement, because the monument to the Empress, who had granted the village of Irbit the status of a city, had adorned the city's centre until 1920s.
To avoid mass disturbances, it was planned to move Vladimir Lenin's monument to another street nearby.
The Irbit organization of the Communist Party suggested to hold a referendum to find out whether the people of Irbit agreed to the monument's transfer and replacement.
The officials at the office of the Sverdlobvsk regional governor, where the referendum's initiators applied, refused to talk to the communists.
Receiving no help in Ekaterinburg, communist protesters in late September submitted the documents they had gathered to the regional Election Commission. The Commission's members found mistakes in the ID information on the activists and also turned down the request for a referendum on these grounds.
Communist Party activists do not admit defeat and want to submit the amended documents once again.
However, they will hardly be able to go through all the required procedures in time - Catherine the Great's monument has already been completed and will arrive to Irbit in the next few days. The city authorities plan to erect the monument at the Lenin Square before New Year and thus put an end to the historical dispute.
