Head of Khakassia Valentin Konovalov invites his United Russia opponent to debate
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The head of Khakassia, Valentin Konovalov (KPRF), is trying to convince his main opponent in the September elections, State Duma deputy Sergei Sokol (United Russia), to go one-on-one with him. On Wednesday, for the second time, he called on Mr. Sokol to hold a debate, but not as part of a standard election campaign, but “on any independent Internet site.” United Russia has previously said that it is ready for a discussion on television, but whether it will accept the “non-standard” challenge of Mr. Konovalov is not yet clear. The participation of incumbent governors in debates is a rarity: this year only a few are ready to follow the example of the Khakass head.
Valentin Konovalov posted the first call for a face-to-face conversation on Telegram on August 7. “Until now, you only ask questions and make claims to the government of Khakassia, and address them not directly, but to the impersonal Internet and media space,” he reproached Sergei Sokol. “Come to the debate: we’ll talk honestly, discuss the problems, the development strategy of Khakassia.”
United Russia’s response was not long in coming. The very next day, at a meeting with residents, Mr. Sokol made it clear that he was not going to avoid talking with his opponent: “Debates are provided for by law, they will take place in any case and in any weather.” According to the deputy, this is a “well-established process” on television, which takes place as part of every election campaign, so challenging someone is like “demanding water to be wet.” He also recalled that not one is running for governor – there are four candidates.
On the same day, the republican electoral committee held a draw for airtime for “joint campaigning events” (as the debate is officially called), which will begin on August 14. They will be aired on RTS, Rossiya 1 and Rossiya 24 TV channels, as well as on RTS Radio, Khakassia FM and Radio Russia radio stations.
However, on August 9, Valentin Konovalov went further and announced that he was inviting Sergei Sokol to a completely different debate: “We must meet one on one. Face to face. You and I. In the “question-answer” format,” he wrote on Telegram. The communist urged United Russia to call “white – white, and black – black” and offered for discussion “any independent Internet platform.”
At the time of writing, Sergei Sokol did not respond to this challenge. Kommersant was told in the Khakass branch of United Russia (ER) that “debates are being held in accordance with the approved regulations on state television channels.” An informed Kommersant source in Mr. Sokol’s team says that United Russia will not respond to Mr. Konovalov’s second challenge, because “it is not very clear what exactly he is offering.” Through third parties, the communist offered to meet at the Khakassia news agency, but in the team of Sergei Sokol this agency is not considered an independent platform, and there is no suitable studio there, the interlocutor of Kommersant continues: “It seems that Valentin Konovalov proposes to go one on one” .
However, other sources of “Kommersant” quite allow the option of a one-on-one debate. The interlocutor of Kommersant, close to the leadership of EP, assures that Sergei Sokol is ready for them, and an informed source of Kommersant, close to the presidential administration (AP), claims that this option was considered even before the proposal of Valentin Konovalov. According to him, the Presidential Administration believes that such debates are possible, but then it is necessary to ensure the equality of candidates: verbal fights must take place between all participants in the elections. “This option may be inconvenient for TV channels,” the interlocutor of Kommersant will explain. Finally, another source of Kommersant, who is familiar with the situation in Khakassia, says that so far only classic debates with the participation of all four candidates are planned on TV channels.
Two other candidates, Mikhail Molchanov, a deputy of the Khakassian parliament from the LDPR, and Vladimir Grudinin, a Kazan businessman nominated by the Communists of Russia, have not remained aloof from the battle in absentia so far. The latter, for example, himself called Valentin Konovalov to a debate, calling for an explanation why the head of the region tried to prevent him from participating in the elections (the Communist Party of the Russian Federation disputed the registration of Mr. Grudinin, but in the end he was admitted by decision of the Central Election Commission). “Today there is a lot of information, some of it is false. And the debate is the most direct, open way to find out this information, ”Mr. Molchanov told Kommersant.
Political scientist Konstantin Lukin recalls that governors rarely debate with opponents, because they believe that it is impossible to “raise” them to their level. This year, for example, only the acting head of the Smolensk region Vasily Anokhin (ER) and the Oryol governor Andrey Klychkov (KPRF) have so far announced their intention to take part in the debate. Surrounded by the acting head of Chukotka, Vladislav Kuznetsov, Kommersant was told that he would decide “according to the circumstances.” And the governor of the Magadan region, Sergei Nosov, will agree if he is called, Tatyana Khripun, head of the region’s information policy department, told Kommersant: “If they don’t invite, they won’t.” According to the Novosibirsk branch of United Russia, Governor Andrei Travnikov does not plan to participate in the debate. In other regions, where elections will be held in September, the heads have not yet made a final decision on this matter.
“I don’t really understand Konovalov’s headquarters, which himself called Sokol to debate. The head of the republic, due to some peculiarities, is not a very good speaker. Unlike Sokol, who knows how and loves to conduct discussions, does it with humor, and in general should look better, – says Vasily Damov, head of the Sibmedia Agency communications agency. looks more determined than the one who accepts the challenge.”
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