Former deputy head of Primorye became chairman of the regional parliament

Deputies of the Legislative Assembly of the Primorsky Territory at their meeting today elected Anton Voloshko, who previously served as vice-governor of the region for domestic policy, as chairman. The candidacy of United Russia member Voloshko was supported almost unanimously – with two spoiled ballots. When assessing the candidate, representatives of United Russia spoke about his systemic nature, and the communists spoke about his diplomacy. The new speaker himself promised to use the “metronome effect” in his work and synchronize the work of the legislative and executive branches of government.

Anton Voloshko’s candidacy was nominated by the United Russia faction, which includes 21 of the 40 deputies of the Primorye parliament. The head of the faction, Sergei Slepchenko, assured his colleagues that the speaker candidate is “a systematic person who knows the goals and objectives facing the Primorsky Territory.” And Governor Oleg Kozhemyako said that Mr. Voloshko is “an experienced, competent and energetic leader who will help improve the efficiency of the legislative body.” No alternative candidates were nominated.

In his pre-election speech to deputies, Anton Voloshko spoke about the metronome effect. “When two metronomes are next to each other, they work asynchronously. When the third metronome joins, they begin to synchronize and after a while they become synchronized. The metronome effect in our work with the executive branch is extremely important. Especially now, when the country faces special challenges,” said the candidate.

He made it clear that he sees himself as a “third metronome” in the region’s political system.

During the secret ballot, Mr. Voloshko was supported by 35 deputies, two ballots were declared invalid (37 out of 40 parliamentarians were present at the session). From these figures it followed that members of the second largest faction, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, which includes 12 parliamentarians, also voted for United Russia.

“Yes, our faction decided to support Voloshko’s candidacy. He has proven himself positively with his ability to approach all political parties diplomatically,” Anatoly Dolgachev, the head of the faction and first secretary of the regional committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, explained to Kommersant. He added that communists, as a rule, nominate their candidates for leadership positions in parliament at the first meetings after their election. “And in this case we are talking about personnel changes within the existing staff,” noted Mr. Dolgachev.

Independent deputy Gennady Shulga, who last year excluded from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation faction for an anti-war demarche, admitted to Kommersant that he was one of two deputies who spoiled the ballot.

“I wrote on the ballot congratulating everyone on the upcoming New Year,” said the parliamentarian.

According to him, he was prompted to do this by the lack of alternative candidates for speaker and the fact that Mr. Voloshko “only recently became a deputy – and is immediately nominated for chairman.” “There are more worthy candidates among the current United Russia members,” says Mr. Shulga.

Let us recall that in the Legislative Assembly, Vice-Governor Anton Voloshko was elected On October 29, at the by-elections in single-mandate constituency No. 21, appointed after the parliament prematurely terminated the parliamentary powers of United Russia member Dmitry Nazarets on July 26. As Vsevolod Romanov, Chairman of the Committee on Rules and Deputy Ethics, explained then, since July 2022, Mr. Nazarets has been outside Russia and systematically did not perform the duties of a deputy, not taking part in sessions.

And in September, the post of Speaker of the Legislative Assembly also became vacant: Alexander Rolik, who had held it since 2016, was delegated to the Federation Council by Governor Oleg Kozhemyako, who was re-elected for a second term. Moreover, before being elected to the regional parliament, Mr. Rolik also worked as vice-governor for internal policy issues under the head of the region, Vladimir Miklushevsky. “The election of Voloshko as speaker means the governor retains control over the Legislative Assembly,” Primorye political scientist Pavel Nalivaiko commented on the situation.

43-year-old Anton Voloshko is a long-time member of Oleg Kozhemyako’s team. In 2017–2018, when Mr. Kozhemyako headed the Sakhalin region, Mr. Voloshko was his first deputy. And after Oleg Kozhemyako was elected head of Primorye in 2018, Anton Voloshko, appointed curator of the region’s internal policy, also moved to the region.

Alexey Chernyshev, Vladivostok