17 parties agreed on joint control over the presidential elections with the Public Chamber

The Public Chamber of the Russian Federation on Thursday entered into an agreement on cooperation with parties during the observation of the presidential elections. This year it was signed by 17 organizations, including United Russia, LDPR, A Just Russia – For Truth (SRZP), New People, Rodina, Green Alternative, etc. Such agreements have become an annual tradition , only the number of participants changes from year to year. This time, traditionally, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Yabloko were not among them, and the Civil Initiative did not join the agreement.

The agreement with the Public Chamber (PC) on cooperation in the field of election observation involves joint training of observers and monitoring the cleanliness of all procedures. Chairman of the OP Commission on Public Control Alena Bulgakova recalled that seminars for observers under the OP program are held throughout the country, and they are ready to host party representatives there as well.

The 2024 presidential campaign is taking place under conditions of unprecedented challenges, said Sergei Perminov, Deputy Secretary of the General Council of United Russia, so the priority now is to ensure the legitimacy of the election process and result. This, he said, is where United Russia sees its mission, having taken upon itself the obligation to place an observer at each polling station. “We will do everything in our power, because a strong mandate of the winning candidate is the right path for the country’s development for decades,” assured Mr. Perminov.

“We in the party believe that observers are a kind of public notaries,” Vladimir Vorozhtsov, deputy chairman of the central council of the Russian Party of Pensioners for Social Justice, elaborated on the topic of legitimacy. And if a notary is a person who receives from the state the authority to certify documents, then an observer receives from society or the party the status of a person capable of certifying the authenticity of ongoing processes, the politician explained. And here, of course, we must keep in mind that the largest centers of information and psychological operations are preparing the most sophisticated methods of influencing voters, Mr. Vorozhtsov insisted. Therefore, observers, in his opinion, must be trained so that they can perceive and respond appropriately to all ideological sabotage.

Ilya Kleimenov, deputy chairman of the Central Committee of the Communists of Russia party, also feared sabotage: “It’s good that the OSCE doesn’t go (to Russia.— “Kommersant”), but there are agents of this OSCE, during the 30 years they were traveling, they created cells and nests. We are always watching, but now is a special time: our main goal is to identify and expose these scoundrels who want to sow discord and undermine confidence in the results of our elections.” Therefore, it is very sad not to see the Communist Party of the Russian Federation among the participants in the agreement, the party member added meaningfully: this is a reason to think – maybe there are OSCE supporters there too. The “Civil Initiative” party is also not visible, the head of the Democratic Party, Alexander Zorin, readily supported the intrigue: “This means that along the way they have something to hide.” Candidates from these parties (KPRF candidate Nikolai Kharitonov has already been registered, and Civil Initiative representative Boris Nadezhdin is awaiting the results of signature verification) need to be watched very carefully, he warned.

Everyone joined the agreement, and the number of participants even increased compared to last year, Maxim Grigoriev, head of the working group and co-chairman of the coordination council of the OP for public control over voting, noted in a conversation with Kommersant. So, SRZP is participating in it, which previously interacted with the OP at the working level, but did not sign the agreement, he gave an example. On the other hand, there are parties that traditionally refuse agreements of this kind, for example, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation or Yabloko, Mr. Grigoriev continued. “But if one of them came up with such an initiative, we would certainly consider it,” he assured, since the OP is ready to interact with all parties, including from the point of view of training observers. And for parties that cannot send observers themselves during these elections due to the absence of their candidate, participation in public observation is also a manifestation of civic engagement, the social activist added.

SRZP joined the agreement because it supported the nomination of Vladimir Putin, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a member of the presidium of the party’s central council, told Kommersant. Supporting the current president imposes even greater responsibility on the party, she emphasized. In turn, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Sergei Obukhov reminded Kommersant that the Communist Party, in principle, does not take part in such agreements, since it believes that the observers appointed by the public chambers are just an imitation of control.

Anastasia Kornya