For the first time since 2019, a United Russia faction was created in the City Duma of Khabarovsk

For the first time in more than three years, a United Russia faction has been created in the City Duma of Khabarovsk. It included 12 deputies who were members of the Liberal Democratic Party in the past, and deputy Ramiz Goguev headed the faction. He also previously was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.

The decision to create a deputy association was unanimously adopted at a meeting of the local political council of the party in Khabarovsk, it was supported by the mayor, a member of the party’s general council Sergei Kravchuk. “It is very important for us that there is a United Russia faction in the City Duma. The Duma is now multi-party, and factionalism allows us to reach consensus, make optimal decisions for the well-being of the city’s residents, ”the press service of the regional branch of the ruling party quoted him as saying.

The seventh convocation of the City Duma of Khabarovsk was elected in 2019, a year after the unexpected victory in the elections of the governor of the Khabarovsk Territory, State Duma deputy from the LDPR Sergey Furgal. Under his leadership, LDPR candidates for deputies of the City Duma took 34 out of 35 mandates. Another deputy chair went to the representative of the “Fair Russia”. “For three years, after the elections of the Khabarovsk City Duma of the 7th convocation, United Russia was not fractionally represented in the municipal parliament. Today there is such an opportunity – currently there are 12 people in the party, ”said Evgeny Solonenko, head of the regional executive committee of United Russia.

In the summer of 2020, Governor Furgal was arrested on charges of organizing the murders. In the coming weeks, the Lyubertsy City Court of the Moscow Region will pass a sentence on him. Furgal’s fellow party member, State Duma deputy Mikhail Degtyarev, who was elected governor of the region in 2021, was appointed acting head of the region.

Against the backdrop of protests against the arrest of Furgal, a split occurred in the regional branch of the LDPR, and the party began to rapidly lose its influence. Several deputies of the City Duma of Khabarovsk left the ranks of LDPR supporters. Some of them joined the “United Russia”, some, including the speaker Mikhail Sidorov, joined the Right Russians. The latter was removed from his leadership post in March 2021, because he, as stated, “failed to build a constructive dialogue with the main part of the deputy team, gain authority and maintain confidence in himself.”

Finally, in the by-elections to the City Duma of Khabarovsk in single-mandate constituency No. 30 in September 2022, Andrei Beloglazov, a representative of United Russia, won for the first time in several years. As a result, a minority remained under the control of the Liberal Democratic Party – only 14 mandates.

Since the end of 2021, in the status of the acting City Duma of Khabarovsk, the former member of the LDPR faction Yuri Yagodin, who joined United Russia at the beginning of 2022, was in charge. In November 2022, deputies of the City Duma elected a permanent speaker for the second time – United Russia Andrey Beloglazov became him. The previous attempt to appoint a chairman turned out to be a failure due to the fact that the LDPR faction left the meeting room in protest.

The new alignment in the City Duma of Khabarovsk will be convenient for United Russia Mayor Sergei Kravchuk, political analyst Rostislav Turovsky believes. According to him, “United Russia” is consistently strengthening its position in the Khabarovsk Territory, which was once a failure for itself.

Political scientist Yevgeny Minchenko called the creation of the United Russia faction in the City Duma of Khabarovsk “one of the components of a big compromise” in the region, which consists in the fact that “Governor Degtyarev is obliged to support not only his supporters from the Liberal Democratic Party, but also the ruling party.”

“In many ways, United Russia was helped by the loyalty of Governor Degtyarev, although he is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. In fact, there was a split in the LDPR, the loyal part of the party members is focused on the governor and cooperation with the party in power,” Turovsky said. According to him, in the City Duma of Khabarovsk, they managed to create a United Russia faction from the most loyal people from the Liberal Democratic Party, as well as additionally elect Andrei Beloglazov, who became a speaker, as a deputy.