Communists want to consolidate success in Siberia – Elbow goes to the polls
The current mayor of Novosibirsk, communist Anatoly Lokot, has decided to participate in the upcoming elections for the head of the city, which will take place this fall. He stated this at the Urban Technologies forum.
Lokot called the only condition for participation in the campaign to be the support of his nomination by Novosibirsk residents. “I made an important decision for myself. I declare that I am ready to participate in the elections, provided that this decision is supported by Novosibirsk residents,” said the mayor.
The chances of a communist retaining leadership of one of the largest cities in Russia are very high, says political scientist Oleg Bondarenko, director of the Progressive Policy Foundation.
“As far as I am familiar with sociological research data, Anatoly Lokt’s rating is quite high, and he is not inferior to anyone. During his tenure as mayor, he remains the most popular politician in the city. In general, this is a pretty good indicator, because few mayors of Russian cities, especially such large ones, can boast of a high rating, having been elected, I emphasize, from the opposition, and not from the party in power.
I think that such indicators are evidence of respect on the part of the voter.
Secondly, you need to understand that during his time as mayor, Lokot did quite a lot - a bridge was built connecting the two banks of Novosibirsk, many new facilities were opened, there was progress in the development of social infrastructure, a large number of roads were repaired. And this is generally the scourge of Novosibirsk, because traffic jams there are worse than in Moscow due to the transport logistics that have developed historically in the city. In general, he deals with the city quite well. The fact that he ran for a new term suggests that Lokot understands that Novosibirsk residents will support him. Otherwise he wouldn't have done it.
It should also be noted that since last June there has been a so-called “Travnikov-Loktya pact”, according to which there is some kind of constructive interaction between the governor appointed by the president Andrei Travnikov and the mayor of Novosibirsk from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. The governor is a regional city manager, he does not lay claim to any political laurels, and Lokot does not claim to become a governor.
Based on the existence of this pact, I believe that it will be continued in these elections. The United Russia party will keep its promise and will not field any candidate against Anatoly Lokt. In this situation, Elbow's victory, of course, seems guaranteed.
Although, even if United Russia tried to nominate someone, it seems to me, given the current protest mood, it would not have helped it, and Lokot would still have won,” said Oleg Bondarenko, director of the Progressive Politics Foundation.
The high chances of a communist in the elections in Novosibirsk are confirmed by the head of the Center for the Development of Regional Policy, Ilya Grashchenkov.
“I think he has a very good chance of winning. Anatoly Lokt has a minimal anti-rating, he has shown himself to be a very effective business executive, a people's mayor - approachable, open.
During this time, Lokot has formed good support groups, he has someone to rely on, and this is not the notorious administrative resource, like the party in power, but a good asset of citizens who are determined to elect a socialist mayor for a second term.
Of course, he will have some competition. Today, when the government's ratings are falling, more radical candidates are gaining popularity.
Therefore, the LDPR candidate can compete with non-system players. Novosibirsk is a large city, very oppositional, so it is quite possible that the non-systemic opposition will join the game,” says Grashchenkov.
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