From voters to the elected – Newspaper Kommersant No. 52 (7497) dated 03/28/2023

Duma United Russia members received traditional party recommendations on working with voters as part of the “regional week”. The main topics of the party’s conversations with the people, as in previous months, will be a special military operation and the implementation of the “people’s program” of United Russia. In addition, United Russia is recommended to discuss housing and communal services issues with the population and meet with participants in regional and municipal party primaries.

Deputies of the United Russia faction in the State Duma receive thematic party recommendations before each week allotted for communication with voters. “Kommersant” got acquainted with the materials prepared for the current “regional week”, which will last until April 2.

First of all, the members of the United Russia faction are again, as in the past “regional weeks”, recommended to take part in events within the framework of such “sense lines” as supporting the families of military personnel and providing everything necessary for fellow countrymen participating in the special operation. United Russia members are advised to meet with the families of soldiers and help them solve problems, make publications on social networks in support of the military personnel and the president’s decisions, in particular, his idea to create a special Assistance Fund for military personnel with branches in each region, which the head of state expressed in his message to the Federal Assembly 21 February. Deputies are advised to tell voters that the entire infrastructure of United Russia is now involved in providing assistance to the families of military personnel – public receptions, public support headquarters, volunteer centers. “The party has mobilized to support the families of those who defend the interests of the country, and today this is the main party priority,” the document emphasizes.

Special attention is paid to the women’s movement “United Russia”, which held its forum on March 20. According to the recommendations, the movement has rallied around the tasks of the special military operation “thousands of caring women who collect and carry humanitarian aid, sew warm clothes and camouflage nets, study nursing courses and then help frontline soldiers.”

United Russia people are also advised to actively participate in activities to collect and send humanitarian supplies and equipment to the fighters participating in the special operation. As a thesis, it is proposed to talk about the relevance of the slogan of the times of the Great Patriotic War “Everything for the front, everything for victory!”. Deputies are advised to inform voters about the activities of the working group on the special military operation under the leadership of Secretary of the General Council of the party Andriy Turchak, which “worked out 22 thousand appeals from servicemen on various issues”, and talk about legislative initiatives aimed at supporting fighters and their families.

The parliamentarians of United Russia should not forget about the “people’s program”, which “to this day remains the flagship direction of the party’s work in the regions,” the recommendations say. United Russia is advised to meet with citizens at facilities built or renovated under the program. In their posts on social networks and media comments, it is advisable for deputies to emphasize that, “despite the sanctions, the need to provide support to new regions, the party continues to fulfill its promises” and the “people’s program” remains its main priority.

In addition, on March 27, a week of receptions of citizens on housing and communal services started in the regions. In this regard, the deputies are reminded that direct communication with voters is an important part of the work of United Russia. In addition to being able to help, such techniques are also “a kind of folk sociology, they allow you to keep abreast of the aspirations of people,” the document emphasizes. Moreover, the issues of housing and communal services “still remain one of the most acute for citizens.”

Finally, another task of the deputies in this “regional week” will be meetings with participants in the United Russia preliminary voting, during which the party’s candidates are selected for regional and municipal elections. Meetings should be held in an informal setting, parliamentarians are advised to share their own experience of participation in the election campaign with the participants of the primaries, and also to remind that United Russia continues its course of renewing its personnel. According to the recommendations, 74% of the winners of the preliminary vote in 2022 were “newcomers” in politics, and in general, “over the past five years, the level of newcomer candidates from the party has been between 35% and 50%.” The deputies will also remind the participants of the primaries about digital technologies that ensure the transparency of the preliminary voting, as a result of which there are very few reports of violations: for example, in 2022, only one such complaint was recorded.

Ksenia Veretennikova