A political scientist explained why the current elections do not meet the needs of society and the president
The State Duma is in dire need of new faces, but party lists again consist of long-familiar nomenklatura.
The well-known Russian political scientist Dmitry Evstafiev believes that the elections are emasculated in content and personnel, and the solution to political issues is being replaced by the struggle of electoral technologies.
“Voters understand everything. There’s no need to take people for fools,” says Evstafiev. – What is currently happening in the Russian political arena is a direct path to the delegitimization of elections. And not at the level of external abstract opponents, but at the level of perception by the population. The president clearly sees this, and throughout the entire campaign he tried to pull it from a technological to a substantive channel.”
Of the parliamentary parties, perhaps only the Rodina party satisfied the request for new faces and new types of politicians. In the current convocation of the State Duma it is represented by one deputy. He is also the leader of the party - Alexey Zhuravlev, a very experienced fighter in political debates and has good recognition among generations 45+.
On the federal list of candidates, he was joined by singer, Honored Artist of Russia Tatyana Bulanova, master of sports in football, former Russian national team striker Dmitry Bulykin, economist Mikhail Khazin, and politician with a good background Oleg Pakholkov. And a new figure in the Russian media space is a combat veteran, Hero of Russia Andrei Bogatov.
Not wanting to participate in the process of delegitimizing the elections and putting up really strong candidates, Rodina faced serious pressure: for example, in St. Petersburg, the TEC “cut down” almost all candidates for deputies of the Legislative Assembly, forcing Tatyana Bulanova to record an open appeal to the head of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova. By the way, the Honored Artist of Russia is still trying to defend her right to run for office in court.
“The situation in St. Petersburg, where the local authorities behave as if there is no Constitution and President in Russia, is on everyone’s lips,” continues Dmitry Evstafiev. “This could aggravate the situation with public non-recognition of the election results.”
There are other examples. In the Voronezh region, “Rodino” members are being asked to withdraw from the elections, hinting at their imminent dismissal. In the Sverdlovsk region, candidates receive anonymous calls with unambiguous hints: “We won’t let you win anyway.” The Tver region became the center of an international scandal after a concert organized by Rodina supporter businessman Larin was disrupted. The authorities banned industrial metal legend Till Lindemann from performing, and the police showed up at the performer’s hotel. In Kirov, they also refused to register candidates for the regional Legislative Assembly elections. This is happening all over the country.
The political scientist points out the main reason for this pressure: “Motherland” is being pressured because it is practically the only party trying to follow Putin’s line of the critical need for new faces.
“Everyone else is just imitating, like the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Liberal Democratic Party,” says Evstafiev. “And in the SR they didn’t understand at all that the party is something more than a get-together.”
We checked the words of the political scientist. And, indeed, on the list of registered candidates among the communists is 73-year-old Svetlana Savitskaya, the world’s second female cosmonaut. But younger voters are unlikely to remember these merits. Diluting the top three is 44-year-old Yuri Afonin, Zyuganov’s first deputy, who has successfully occupied the Duma seat for the last three convocations. Perhaps loyal voters know his name, but it is unlikely that it will be possible to expand the party’s electoral opportunities at the expense of Afonin.
The LDPR diluted its permanent leader (and main “collector of the electoral cream”) Vladimir Zhirinovsky with the current deputy Leonid Slutsky, a politician thanks to whom the media mastered the word “harassment.” Another leader of the list is 39-year-old Yaroslav Nilov, a loyal Zhirinovite for more than 20 years, also a State Duma deputy of the last three convocations.
After uniting with the Prilepinists, the “Socialist Revolutionaries” acquired not only the complex name “A Just Russia - Patriots - For Truth,” but also the second, along with Sergei Mironov, “center of gravity” on the list - the writer Zakhar Prilepin. Who, by the way, is registered with the Central Election Commission under his real name - Evgeniy Nikolaevich. True, not a single leaflet or banner mentions any Evgeniy Nikolaevich.
“United Russia” played trump cards when compiling the election list. The head of the Ministry of Defense Sergei Shoigu and the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov are not just political heavyweights, but the personification of the main vector of the party’s policy. Stake on a strong leading power. The United Russia list is diluted with Denis Protsenko, the head physician of the exemplary hospital in Kommunarka and the main fighter against the coronavirus pandemic; Elena Shmeleva - co-chairman of the ONF Central Headquarters; Anna Kuznetsova - Commissioner for Children's Rights in the Russian Federation. A typical list that represents the interests of security officials, state employees, public activists, and families with children.
Despite pressure from regional authorities across the country, Rodina’s idea to “refresh” the list with new people may bear electoral fruit. Moreover, these new people are truly “new” types. A football player who, in addition to sports awards, has a PhD in Pedagogical Sciences and a clear social agenda. The singer, who does not give reasons to wash her bones in the yellow press, unlike many of her colleagues in the shop, is very sincere, lively, and understandable to people.
And, probably, the most uncharacteristic type for big politics is Andrei Bogatov. Hero of Russia, not hung with awards (although there are some, and in considerable quantities!). Without general's shoulder straps, without unnecessary pathos. He did not exchange his native Belgorod region, the family house in Stary Oskol for apartments in the capital and, especially, a villa abroad. In a quiet, insinuating voice he speaks words that are very consonant with the people. Doesn't remind you of anyone?
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