Zyuganov's grandson is running for mayor of Moscow. What's in store for him?

The grandson of Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, 34-year-old Leonid, will be nominated as a party candidate in the Moscow mayoral elections. This decision was made at a meeting of the personnel commission of the Communist Party.

This was announced by the leader of the Moscow organization of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Nikolai Zubrilin, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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The decision was warmly welcomed by the leader of the Left Front, Sergei Udaltsov.

“Leonid Zyuganov has two convocations in the City Duma, he knows the problems of Moscow well and enjoys internal party support. This is a young, bright and promising candidate who has enough authority and experience for such a campaign,” Udaltsov wrote in his tg channel.

Political scientist Ilya Geraskin believes that the choice of candidate is due to the fact that the likely candidate from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in the 2024 presidential elections and Zyuganov’s successor as head of the party, Yuri Afonin, simply did not want to take part in a campaign doomed to fail.

“The task of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation was to find a relatively decent and a candidate personally controlled by Zyuganov, ready to lose to Sobyanin. In addition, the grandson of Gennady Andreevich is a safer and more manageable character than the conventional Parfenov and Engalycheva (State Duma deputy, close to the scandalously deprived of his mandate Valery Rashkin, and Moscow City Duma deputy, elected with the help of “smart voting” by criminal blogger Navalny - ed.),” wrote Geraskin.

His colleague Pavel Salin disagrees with him. He believes that the Zyuganov the grandson is being nominated as the successor to Zyuganov the grandfather.

“If the goal is to create at least noticeable competition for Sobyanin and certain problems in the elections, then the candidacy is absolutely unsuitable. If we are talking about the fact that Zyuganov, before retiring, is trying to consolidate the position of his grandson with an eye on the leadership of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Then the decision is completely justified and logical,” Salin said in an interview with NSN.

Director General of the Agency for Political and Economic Communications Dmitry Orlov believes that if such a plan exists, it is doomed to failure.

“Russia is not France, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation is not the National Front, and Gennady Zyuganov is not Le Pen. There is no “family loyalty to the surname” in our country, and it is pointless to count on it.

Zyuganov Jr. is, in principle, a little-known politician who does not have the minimum popularity required for a big game in Moscow.

The leadership of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation - a closed, privileged club - is, of course, generally dissatisfied with this decision. This dissatisfaction will still manifest itself.

In the elections for the mayor of Moscow, a candidate from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation with the surname Zyuganov will face a definitely unfavorable result. He will most likely not be the second", wrote Orlov.

Alexander Semenov, a candidate of political sciences from Ryazan, suggests that the Communist Party of the Russian Federation is testing the scenario of family succession, which will subsequently be used in other areas of Russia.

“How many different “princes” we have in different spheres are sitting and waiting for their time to “succeed to the throne.” And where, if not at elections, can one test in real mode the immediate reaction to such acts of “succession to the throne,” he wrote.

“Actually, it is more than natural to want to pass on your party or your position to a loved one, a child or a grandchild. This is a simple and understandable desire. People leave houses or money as inheritance. In general, I would not blame Zyuganov the grandfather for the fact that he wants to give the Communist Party to Zyuganov the grandson. He simply understands well the direction in which Russian society is moving. Somewhere there, to everything natural and simple,” political scientist Alexey Shaburov agrees with this thesis.

Political scientist Ilya Ananyev believes that so far the “succession to the throne” scheme is only being tested.

“The grandson of Gennady Zyuganov is a “surprise from the snuff box” of the Communist Party, agreed on Old Square. There is a feeling that the Kremlin will begin to “remove” people’s attitudes towards family succession of power. And the children she raised with the famous surname of the parent,” he wrote.

Another group of experts discusses the prospects of Zyuganov the grandson in the Moscow elections. Liberal political scientist Ilya Grashchenkov believes that he is being nominated as a moderate communist in order to attract young people.

«The Communist Party of the Russian Federation in Moscow has sank greatly due to the Northern Military District. The capital is generally in favor of normalization, and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, like the SRZP, act as a driver of the military-patriotic theme, which does not allow many opponents of the authorities to consider them as a party of second choice,” Grashchenkov wrote.

Moscow liberal politician Nikolai Kolosov proposes to virtually transform Zyuganov’s artificial “moderation” into radical opposition.

“Theoretically, the Navalnists and Katz, in agreement, could arrange a frenzied election campaign for young Zyu on the Internet. "Zyuganov is a candidate of the peace party". "Zyuganov for the release of Navalny" Construct a virtual ideal candidate from the liberal opposition and pretend that it is Zyuganov. Attribute sharp opposition slogans to Zyu, draw posters for him, generate memes. The grandson would make absurd excuses, saying that he is for Zet and that in general all liberals should be imprisoned. And everyone would laugh and write “Oh, how cool you are to lead the Putinites by the nose, come on, dear, bring down this power of the security officers and the filthy Lake cooperative", wrote Kolosov.

However, political consultant Dmitry Fetisov believes that Zyuganov the grandson is an ideal candidate for the election of the mayor of Moscow from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, since there is extensive dirt on him.

Political strategist Konstantin Kalachev admits a preliminary agreement between the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Sobyanin on the issue of electronic voting (EV)

“The nomination of Zyuganov’s grandson in the Moscow mayoral elections is similar to the result of negotiations between the mayor’s office and the leadership of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, as a result of which the parties can receive complete mutual satisfaction. If it is DEG inwill bring Zyuganov Jr. to second place with decent results, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation may even campaign for the DEG. Sobyanin will conduct the vote beautifully,” writes Kalachev.

Political scientist Maxim Zharov, as always, comes out with a “perpendicular” point and admits that Sobyanin will not take part in the elections at all.

«Zyuganov the grandson in the Moscow mayoral elections is a “candidate for growth” in every sense of the word. And it’s not just about attempts at the notorious “continuity” within the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. No matter how funny this parallel may be, imagine that Donald Trump, who agreed not to run in the 2024 elections as part of a “pre-trial settlement” in his case, nominates his son for this election. Zyuganov Sr. is now (for completely different reasons) in a similar situation. And especially the expression “candidate for growth” is applicable to Zyuganov the grandson, if Sobyanin WILL NOT participate in the elections for the mayor of Moscow this year,” writes Zharov.

FederalPress editor Andrei Gusiy believes that the nomination of Zyuganov the grandson demonstrates crisis in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and in the systemic opposition in general. 

“The political system, in terms of the systemic opposition, has come to the point where there are federal party leaders... And that’s it... But there are no more politicians with normal recognition or trust ratings. And Zyuganov’s grandson is an extremely striking example of this,” Gusiy wrote.

HSE professor Andrei Suzdaltsev predicts the collapse of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation after such a decision.

«This story looks extremely negative, in the style of the Soviet party nomenklatura. On the other hand, where is the opinion of ordinary party members, where is party democracy? Unfortunately, there is a feeling that instead of creating a real mass left party that will take on all the pain of the disadvantaged, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation has degenerated into a party of the nomenklatura - a clone of the CPSU. This could be the end of this party", wrote Suzdaltsev.

Professor Dmitry Evstafiev agrees with this opinion with humor.

“I consider the adoption of the resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation “On the transfer of leadership positions in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation by inheritance” completely overdue. Lenin will then leave the Mausoleum himself. The issue will resolve itself. It’s like, two birds with one stone, Zyuganov alone,” he wrote.