Leaders of all Duma factions to meet with Putin in mid-February

From February 13 to 16, President Vladimir Putin will hold a series of meetings with the leaders of parliamentary factions, three interlocutors told Vedomosti: one close to the presidential administration and in three parties. Organizational preparation has already begun, Vedomosti sources specify. According to Vedomosti’s interlocutor close to Staraya Square, this time the meetings will not be “collective” – ​​Putin will talk to each of the party leaders individually.

First, according to two interlocutors of Vedomosti, Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, may be called to the Kremlin to meet with the head of state. On the eve of the meeting, messages began to appear on Telegram channels about his possible resignation in favor of a more loyal successor, which the party itself categorically rejects – both publicly and non-publicly, noting that Zyuganov intends to work until at least 2024 and that the meeting with the president will actually be on the 30th anniversary of the party.

The meeting with Zyuganov is scheduled for February 13, the source of Vedomosti on Okhotny Ryad clarifies. On the same day, Putin’s first personal meeting with the new LDPR leader Leonid Slutsky will take place (Vladimir Zhirinovsky died of coronavirus in April 2022). Then, on February 14, there will be a meeting with the leader of the “Fair Russia” Sergei Mironov: a politician familiar to Putin from his work in St. Petersburg turns 70 on this day.

After that, on February 15, there will be a meeting with the head of the New People, Alexei Nechaev, on February 16, with the leader of the United Russia faction in the State Duma, Vladimir Vasilyev, who will close the series of meetings, says a Vedomosti source close to Staraya Square.

However, another interlocutor in the State Duma believes that Putin can have time to communicate with party leaders faster: on February 13, meetings will be held with the leaders of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Liberal Democratic Party, and on February 15 – with the leadership of Just Russia, New People and United Russia.

A Vedomosti interlocutor close to the Kremlin administration notes that traditionally such communication takes place while working on the presidential address to the Federal Assembly, but the agenda can be anything: usually party leaders can communicate with Putin behind closed doors and take advantage of it. The interlocutor in the State Duma also speaks about this. He notes that the work schedule of deputies for February will change: the last week will not be regional, as planned, but plenary. This, according to the source, may be “an indirect sign of preparation for the message.”

An interlocutor of Vedomosti in one of the parties is sure that at the meeting of faction leaders with the president, “global things” will be discussed, against the background of which preparations for the 2023 regional elections will fade into the background.

Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that on January 24, Putin had a meeting with State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin: “They discussed the work plan, the priority tasks facing the lower house of parliament for the whole year.” The Kremlin did not announce the dates of the president’s meetings with the faction leaders, but Peskov told reporters on February 3 that Putin would talk to them separately.

The last time Putin met with the leaders of the factions was on July 7, 2022, after the closing of the spring session – it was a collective meeting, Volodin was also present. Peskov did not answer the question of Vedomosti whether the head of state would really communicate with the leaders of the factions from February 13 to 16.

The main issues at the meeting may be related to the provision of the army, mobilized, etc., says Rostislav Turovsky, vice president of the Center for Political Technologies: “Ideas to improve the living standards of Russians, support the economy under sanctions, and solve the demographic problem will also be in demand.” The opinion of faction leaders can be taken into account in the presidential message, he adds: “The rules of reciprocal political courtesy should work. Especially if the ideas turn out to be efficient.”

Meetings of faction leaders with the president will allow parties to speak directly about their ideas, and if approved, move forward, suggests Pavel Sklyanchuk, a member of the political technologies committee of the Russian Association for Public Relations: “Here it is important to remember Vladimir Putin’s phrase that “there are many parties, but there is one “, and it is unlikely that intra-party issues or political differences are relevant now.” The expert also does not exclude that the message will contain references to topics that were previously discussed with the factions: “But it has a self-sufficient constitutional significance.”

According to the press secretary of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, State Duma deputy Alexander Yushchenko, the communist leader at a meeting with Putin plans to “raise topics within the party program” and talk about what kind of policy the country needs. He refused to divulge details.

An interlocutor in the Communist Party says that Zyuganov will present Putin with proposals for solving various socio-economic problems: from general federal to the problems of specific enterprises. “Naturally, they will also discuss the general situation in the country,” the source notes. – Zyuganov will present his ideas on the development budget, the need for general socio-economic and political mobilization. Surely there will be questions related to the support of the governors from the Communist Party.”

Traditionally, Zhirinovsky attended such meetings with the president, but after his death, Slutsky went to a meeting with Putin in July 2022, recalls Yaroslav Nilov, deputy head of the LDPR faction. “At the meetings, important issues are discussed, for the solution of which a president is needed. Slutsky [как председатель профильного комитета Госдумы] will give his best practices on international topics. In addition, issues that citizens apply to the party will be raised, such as social policy, support for various sectors of the economy, demography, the development of new territories, issues of import substitution, etc.,” says Nilov.

The main topics on the agenda now are helping the mobilized and their families, protecting and supporting small and medium-sized businesses under sanctions, demography and work on the “cultural front,” notes Dmitry Gusev, First Deputy Head of the Just Russia faction: “All these four topics can be raised at the meeting of the leader of our party with the President.

The “New People” and “United Russia” did not comment on the upcoming meeting.

Turovsky notes that leaders of all factions are expected to support the Kremlin’s course. And they, in turn, “need to distinguish themselves by specific initiatives, and [постараться] do not repeat either the president or each other,” the expert says: “Otherwise they will lose their identity.”