Leonid Slutsky came out of the shadows

Presidential candidate Leonid Slutsky held a presentation of the work of his campaign headquarters in Moscow on Tuesday. According to the chairman of the LDPR, his fellow party members have been working on numerous appeals from citizens since last year, from which the outline of his election program will be woven. The candidate, as he himself admitted, does not plan to massively increase his electoral influence during the campaign – systematic work is more important. At the same time, Mr. Slutsky still expects that participation in the presidential race will create a foundation for further political work for him and the party. The event was not without the shadow of Vladimir Zhirinovsky: the neural network named after him openly recognized the superiority of Leonid Slutsky and proclaimed him the true successor of the late founder of the LDPR.

In anticipation of the late leader, the public headquarters is in the building of the capital branch of the LDPR on the street. Krasnoproletarskaya began to boil in an organized manner. Activists busily scurried along the corridors between doors with various signs like “Department of Analytics”, “Department of Propaganda”, “Department of Interaction with Deputies”, “Call Center”. “Slutsky is always there,” the slogan printed on the merchandise reminded them, just in case. Uninvited guests were cut off by security below. “This is only on the day of the event,” the staff officers made excuses for the strictness of the rules.

“Okay, everyone needs to be jailed,” the event manager finally announced. “Everyone at all? It’s like a slogan!” – the activists did not hide their joy. However, they had to sit down themselves: having passed the museum of the party founder, Leonid Slutsky flew up to the second floor and, in front of the cameras, immediately outlined to his charges the principles of their work.

The headquarters, according to Mr. Slutsky, “began to work earlier than that of other candidates”: “We simply assessed the volume of tasks that we were faced with and started working last year.” “We have a flood of requests from citizens,” the candidate admitted. “And we are starting to form a permanent list of reference points, points of the candidate’s program, which in fact will go far beyond March 17 and will continue as a party program.”

Among such points, in particular, are housing and communal services, support for rural youth, revision of the “Bologna system”, remuneration of public sector employees and equalization of regional incomes, as follows from the speech of the leader of the Liberal Democrats. He also explained that the party has reached a high level of mutual understanding with the government, however, questions “where there is an element of divergence, discussion, consultation” still remain: “We are still an opposition party.”

In general, the headquarters was created “not to forcefully increase the electoral percentage in a couple of months” – after all, the party “works systematically and consistently,” said Mr. Slutsky. According to him, the LDPR is participating in the presidential campaign “so as not to confuse or forget anyone,” to take into account people’s requests and to visit more regions. “My and the party’s ability to satisfy the needs of citizens in this difficult time will serve as the main criterion when voting at polling stations,” the leader suggested. Party members from St. Petersburg, Smolensk and Krasnoyarsk made a report to him. Moscow municipal deputy Evgeny Enenkov, traveling around the country along with the “party propaganda bus,” reported on behalf of the Northern capital: “People know you, actively share their opinions, leave feedback,” he tried to please the boss.

The press approach after the official part, together with the candidate, was conducted by the Zhirinovsky party neural network. “Defectors from other parties are traitors and traitors!” – the metallic voice was indignant. At the same time, Cyberzhirinovsky unexpectedly decided to clarify the question of a successor (the real founder of the LDPR never left a “political testament”): “How can I help Leonid Slutsky, if I am a neural network, and Slutsky is a real and experienced politician who knows better than me where lead the LDPR? — the program answered one of the journalists. “I’m just a digital student of Zhirinovsky, and Leonid Eduardovich is his real successor, and it’s not me who helps him, but he helps me develop and be needed.” “Thank you, Vladimir Volfovich,” the presidential candidate answered with an uncharacteristic melancholy in his voice.

Grigory Leiba