A word about the iron speaker: the secrets of Vyacheslav Volodin’s career rise

The Chairman of the State Duma turned 60 years old

This Sunday, Vyacheslav Volodin, the Chairman of the State Duma and one of the most powerful and influential modern Russian politicians, turned 60 years old. A certain number of years ago, there was a popular joke in Moscow political circles about how Vladimir Putin came to a restaurant accompanied by two very prominent parliamentary figures. “What will you do, Vladimir Vladimirovich? – the waiter asks the president! – Meat! – What about vegetables? “Vegetables will also be meat!” Today this joke has long been out of circulation. And there is at least one very good reason for this. Like his colleague from the upper house, Valentina Matvienko, Volodin cannot be called not only a “vegetable,” but even a “political vegetarian.” The Speaker of the Duma is an exceptionally active, skillful and aggressive political player, an important element of the latest version of Putin’s vertical of power.

I met Vyacheslav Volodin back in 2000, when he was one of the deputies of the then head of the Fatherland-All Russia Duma faction, Yevgeny Primakov. The faction headed by Yevgeny Maksimovich was at that moment not only completely oppositional, but also definitely not completely pro-government. And for either these or other reasons, Volodin did not work from a separate office, but shared an office with another of Primakov’s then-deputies – the current vice-speaker of the Federation Council, Konstantin Kosachev. This room was located across the reception area from the office of the faction leader. And when I came to talk to Evgeniy Maksimovich, I was sometimes asked to wait for an audience there. During one of these waits, I entered into a conversation with Vyacheslav Viktorovich. Naturally, I don’t remember what exactly we discussed, because it’s been so many years. I only remember my general impression: Volodin is a cheerful fellow, a joker and a generally charming person.

A little later, another facet of Vyacheslav Volodin’s character was revealed to me. Yevgeny Primakov was openly burdened by his work in parliament and at the first opportunity he moved to the position of president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He recommended Volodin to Putin as his successor. Some time after this event, Volodin, during an off-the-record conversation, undertook to tell me what was actually happening in the pro-government sector of Russian politics. And again, only the general impression remains in my memory: this man knows and understands everything. He understands the logic of the apparatus struggle, understands the broad political context, understands the motivation and psychology of the main players.

And although Volodin’s professional activity began in 1986 as a teacher at the institute, Volodin’s knowledge and skills are not theoretical, but of the most practical and applied nature. Having changed several important positions during the first decade of Putin’s rule, Vyacheslav Volodin was appointed in December 2011 to the key Russian state hierarchy, the post of First Deputy Head of the Russian Presidential Administration for Domestic Policy. This appointment came at a time when the Russian government was in a very atypical state for it – a state of some confusion.

The domestic political system built by Volodin’s predecessor, Vladislav Surkov, seemed strong, even unshakable. But after the 2011 Duma elections, Russian politics suddenly entered a “swamp era.” Faced with the phenomenon of mass protests, Surkov did not find a better option than to call the protesters “the best people of Russia” and ask to be transferred to another job. Volodin had to sort out the problems in his former field of activity. And this raking began with an elegant political maneuver. One of the most unpopular innovations of the previous period was the refusal to directly elect governors by the population and the refusal to elect State Duma deputies in single-mandate constituencies. Volodin (or rather, Putin at Volodin’s suggestion) returned both. But this was done in such a way that the degree of control over Russian political processes by the Kremlin not only did not decrease, but even increased. This is all Volodin. He knows how to think strategically and understands the importance of tactical maneuvers and tactical concessions – with an eye to winning back these concessions with interest through several political moves.

Volodin’s transition to the position of Chairman of the State Duma in 2016 was perceived by the elite as a formal promotion and a real demotion. Russia is a country in which real politics are made not on Okhotny Ryad, but in the Kremlin and Staraya Square. But, as is now clear, this transition was one of the components of an extremely important political multi-move planned by Putin. Once again turning from an apparatchik into a public politician, Volodin began to periodically come up with initiatives on the need for a radical reboot of the Russian political system. The elite was perplexed, but understood that these statements were being made for a reason, but as part of the implementation of some very important plan. But which one exactly became clear only at the beginning of 2020, when the process of revising the Constitution officially began in Russia, which included granting Putin the right to run for president for a new term.

Under Volodin, the work of the State Duma itself also changed seriously. The speaker is a pronounced workaholic. I don’t know how it is now, but before he was physically unable to devote himself only to rest while on vacation. After just a few days, he began to call his subordinates, first periodically and then more and more actively. After Vyacheslav Viktorovich returned to Okhotny Ryad, the period of freedom for deputies ended, when they could, for example, easily skip Duma meetings. Now a regime of strict discipline has been established here. Is this definitely a good thing? I hope that I will still have the opportunity to argue with Volodin on this issue, as well as on some of his other domestic and foreign policy initiatives. Well, for now I’ll limit myself to my congratulations to the birthday boy. Happy anniversary to you, Vyacheslav Viktorovich!

PS On February 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree awarding State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin with the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 1st degree.