Diplomat to remain senator – Politics – Kommersant Kazan
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The vice-speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev, whose senatorial powers expire this fall, may renew them as a representative of the Mari El authorities. His candidacy for the post of senator was proposed by the acting head of the republic, Yuri Zaitsev, who is participating in the September elections. Mr. Kosachev is not directly related to Mari El, but as a diplomat he can be nominated to the upper house from any subject of the Russian Federation. Experts have no doubt that Konstantin Kosachev will retain his post in the Federation Council, since he is “one of the conductors of the country’s foreign policy”, and the Mari El authorities cannot fail to fulfill the “instruction of the federal center.”
The Central Election Commission of Mari El has published a list of contenders for the post of senator from the executive branch of the republic, who were proposed by candidates for the heads of the regions. So, in the presented trio from the acting head of Mari El, Yuri Zaitsev, was the current representative of the republic in the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev. He now holds the post of vice-speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament. His mandate expires in the fall of 2022.
The top three candidates proposed by Mr. Zaitsev also included the speaker of the State Assembly of Mari El Anatoly Smirnov and First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic Mikhail Vasyutin. However, they had not previously worked in the Federation Council.
Recall that the election of the head of Mari El is scheduled for September 11, 2022. This week, the CEC of the region registered four candidates. These are Yuri Zaitsev, who announced himself for the elections as a self-nominated candidate, as well as Natalia Glushchenko (“Fair Russia – Patriots – For Truth”), Valentina Zlobina (Russian Party of Pensioners for Justice) and Anton Mirdabalev (LDPR).
Since 2017, Mari El has been led by Alexander Evstifeev, who resigned on May 10, 2022. Vladimir Putin appointed acting head Yuri Zaitsev, who had previously been the head of the government of Kalmykia.
59-year-old Konstantin Kosachev (formerly head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs and head of Rossotrudnichestvo) has been working in the Federation Council since 2014. Initially, he was a representative of the head of Chuvashia, Mikhail Ignatiev. However, already in 2015, Mr. Ignatiev, who went to the planned elections, announced that he had offered this post to the former head of Chuvashia, ex-Minister of Agriculture Nikolai Fedorov. The speaker of the Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, then explained that Konstantin Kosachev should retain his post as head of the international affairs committee in the upper house.
“He has the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and can be nominated as a candidate for senators from any subject of the Russian Federation,” she pointed out.
As a result, Mr. Kosachev became a senator from Mari El, which was then headed by Leonid Markelov.
After the resignation of Mr. Markelov in 2017 (later he was convicted of a bribe), the powers of Konstantin Kosachev were extended by Alexander Evstifeev. In 2021, Konstantin Kosachev became Vice Speaker of the Federation Council. The senator never lived in Mari El.
After the appointment of the acting head of Mari El, Yuri Zaitsev already met with Mr. Kosachev. “Konstantin Iosifovich is a great professional and diplomat, a person who is sincerely interested in the development of Mari El,” Mr. Zaitsev noted.
Other contenders for the post of head of Mari El also submitted proposals for candidates for empowerment of a senator from the republic. There are no significant political figures at the federal level in the lists.
Recall that the second senator from Mari El is Sergei Martynov, the former head of the staff of the Federation Council. The powers of a senator were given to him by the State Assembly of the Republic in 2019.
Political technologist Konstantin Kalachev has no doubts that in the event of the expected victory in the election of acting head Yuri Zaitsev, Mr. Kosachev will extend his powers as a senator from Mari El. “It is clear that Konstantin Kosachev in our time is a figure in demand, necessary. Now foreign policy is at the forefront, and he is one of its conductors, an integral part of the federal political establishment,” the expert explains. He believes that the political weight of Konstantin Kosachev will increase “not only in the short term, but also in the medium and long term.”
According to Mr. Kalachev, “it would be strange” if Yuri Zaitsev did not nominate Konstantin Kosachev. “Such a recommendation from the federal center is an imperative,” he said. The political consultant adds that the elites of Mari El are not so influential as to nominate their representative for the senatorial post. “Mari El does not have such lobbying opportunities as Tatarstan. This is a poor and subsidized subject of the Russian Federation, which fulfills the instructions of the federal center, ”the expert concludes.
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