Communists and United Russia of Khakassia compete in the speed of nomination for the elections of the governor and the Supreme Council

The head of Khakassia, communist Valentin Konovalov, handed over signatures to the republic’s election commission for passing the municipal filter in the election of the head of the region. In this, he was ahead of State Duma deputy Sergei Sokol, nominated by United Russia (ER). On the other hand, United Russia had earlier managed to approve the list of candidates for the Supreme Council (SC) of Khakassia, whose deputies will be elected simultaneously with the head of the republic in September this year. A rival of one of the United Russia candidates in a single-mandate constituency may be their former member of the same party, the speaker of the Supreme Court Vladimir Shtygashev, who is now criticizing the regional branch of United Russia.

The head of Khakassia, Valentin Konovalov, nominated by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation for a second term, on June 22 handed over documents to the republican election commission to register him as a candidate. Including 129 signatures of municipal deputies and elected heads (of which 26 signatures of deputies and heads of the “second level”) for passing the municipal filter. They were collected in all 13 municipalities of Khakassia. Earlier, Secretary of the Communist Party Republican Committee for Organizational and Party Work, Supreme Council deputy Lyudmila Kaufman told Kommersant that there are not enough members of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in municipal parliaments to pass the filter, but the party hopes for self-nominated deputies who were elected with the support of the Communists. According to the election committee, Valentin Konovalov chose his current representative in the Federation Council Valery Usatyuk, lawyer Oleg Zemtsov and his adviser Igor Mamontov, who participates in the SVO, as candidates for senators.

So far, four people have notified their intention to participate in the election of the head of Khakassia. In addition to Mr. Konovalov, these are the secretary of the regional branch of United Russia, State Duma deputy Sergei Sokol, deputy of the Supreme Court from the Liberal Democratic Party Mikhail Molchanov, and the head of the republican cell of the Rodina party Alexei Khabarov.

Although Valentin Konovalov was the first to collect signatures, the Khakass United Russia party approved the list of their candidates for the elections to the Supreme Council before the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. The conference of the regional branch of the United Russia, held on June 21, by its decision, included in the top three (the republican part of the list) Sergei Sokol, the head of the Askizsky district of the republic, Abrek Cheltygmashev, and the rector of the Khakass State University, Tatyana Krasnova. Mr. Cheltygmashev in 2019 won the election of the head of the district for the fourth time with a five-year term of office, gaining 48.2% of the vote. Ms. Krasnova worked for several years as the Minister of Economy of Khakassia in the team of ex-governor Viktor Zimin. EP promises to fight for victory in all single-member constituencies except for one.

Mr. Sokol noted that the task of the party is “to win a convincing victory in the elections”, which should change the political situation in the republic that has developed following the results of the 2018 elections. Then the communist Valentin Konovalov won the election of the head in two rounds, and in the elections to the Supreme Council of the Communist Party bypassed the United Russia when voting on party lists (25 deputies are elected on party lists, 25 in single-mandate districts) – 31.01% against 25.46%. According to Mikhail Verkhoturov, a member of the political council of the Abakan branch of United Russia, this time United Russia can count on 45-60% when voting on party lists, and a result of 55% will most likely give 13 mandates. “According to the results of the elections in single-mandate constituencies, it is quite realistic that United Russia will receive about 20 more seats plus. If we sum up the territorial groups and single-members, it turns out that the faction in the Armed Forces can increase by more than 50% and at the same time seriously upgrade its quality, ”he told Kommersant.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation, as reported in the Party Reskom, will approve its list of candidates at a conference on June 24. The LDPR regional department has already announced its own. The top three included party leader Leonid Slutsky, as well as deputies of the Supreme Council Mikhail Molchanov and Yaroslav Khavron. It is also known that Rodina’s list for elections to the regional parliament will be headed by its gubernatorial candidate Aleksey Khabarov.

The participation of 83-year-old Vladimir Shtygashev, who has headed the Supreme Court since the early 1990s, may also become a serious factor in the election campaign. As Kommersant reported, in mid-June he left the ranks of United Russia. “In principle, there are such proposals that I should be elected as a deputy, at least. It will be visible there. I’ll probably run in a single-mandate district, according to the lists. At least in the next three to five days this will be decided,” the head of the republican parliament said on June 21 on the air of the local RTS television channel. Mr. Shtygashev criticized United Russia in Khakassia for the fact that “all sorts of unworthy people are there,” and at the same time gave a positive assessment of the work of communist Valentin Konovalov as head of the region.

In turn, the leader of Khakassia, at a meeting of the regional government on June 20, noted the authority of the speaker and thanked him for “an invaluable political life experience and diplomatic talents.” Mr. Konovalov also expressed confidence that “Vladimir Nikolaevich (Shtygashev.— “b”) will continue to work for the good of the republic.”

Valery Lavsky, Novosibirsk