An inter-factional opposition group has been created in the Yekaterinburg Duma
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An inter-factional group was established in the Yekaterinburg Duma, which included three deputies from opposition parties – the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, A Just Russia – For Truth (SRZP) and New People. The initiator of the Yabloko association, created to “represent a consolidated position,” Konstantin Kiselyov, has not yet joined it, but promises to do so later. Experts point out that such inter-party coalitions are not typical for Russia, but the group will not have any real influence on the decisions of the City Duma, where United Russia has a majority.
Last week, the Chairman of the City Duma of Yekaterinburg, Anna Gurariy, signed a resolution on the registration of the inter-factional group “For Yekaterinburg!” It included three deputies: Victoria Ivacheva (Communist Party of the Russian Federation), Denis Khavantsev (SRZP) and Sergei Kozlov (New People). Yabloko deputy Konstantin Kiselev, who, according to him, became the ideologist of the new association, has not yet joined it, and in response to Kommersant’s request to comment on his actions, he suggested turning to his social networks. “I wrote everything there. That it was my idea, that I developed the position, and then we finalized it together. There are all the explanations of how this happened,” he explained. Previously, Mr. Kiselev promised that he would join the new group later “with already prepared proposals and statements.”
Victoria Ivacheva told Kommersant that the issue of joining Konstantin Kiselev’s group will be considered at the next meeting of the association. It was previously explained that deputies created a new group to present a consolidated position on a number of problems, promptly respond to requests from citizens and resolve issues brought to meetings of the City Duma and its commissions.
Elections of deputies to the Yekaterinburg City Duma of the VIII convocation were held in September 2023. According to their results, United Russia received 27 of 35 mandates in parliament, the LDPR – three, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation – two, SRZP, Yabloko and New People – one each. Each party already has its own faction in the City Duma.
Sverdlovsk analysts highlight, first of all, the “PR component” in the oppositionists’ decision. “The purpose of creating an association is to show in the information space that there is a group that protects the interests of the residents of Yekaterinburg. From the point of view of the real political struggle, this will not affect the situation in the City Duma in any way,” political scientist Mikhail Korobelnikov is sure.
“For deputies, this association is an opportunity to gain a sense of the significance of their decisions,” adds political scientist Anatoly Gagarin, who calls the creation of the group a “PR move.”
Federal experts, in turn, note that such alliances are atypical. Thus, political scientist Konstantin Kalachev could not remember modern examples of such broad political coalitions, but emphasized that “Ekaterinburg is a special city”: “Politically, the capital of the Urals is very advanced. The ability to negotiate is greater even simply due to the greater independence of party deputies.” At the same time, the expert agrees that the group was created “more for PR than for real influence”: “It is not a fact that in the process of discussing fundamental decisions their opinions will coincide. The very first test by action may show the looseness of the association.” President of the St. Petersburg Politics Foundation Mikhail Vinogradov confirms that such associations are rare and usually either obviously unstable (especially if they are strongly ideological), or act as part of a large “order.” As an example, the political scientist cites the Omsk Spring coalition, which existed in the early 2010s and fought with the team of former mayor Viktor Schrader.
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