Maxim Suraikin also wants to be mayor – Kommersant

On Sunday, a congress of the Communists of Russia party was held in Moscow, the participants of which decided to reinstate Maxim Suraykin as chairman of the party’s Central Committee. This was reported to Kommersant by the politician himself. According to him, the delegates also proposed to nominate the leader of the party as a candidate for mayor of Moscow in the September elections.

“The congress discussed the issue of participation in the elections of the mayor of Moscow. A unanimous decision was made to recommend that the next congress decide on participation in the elections and nominate Comrade Suraykin as a candidate for them, ”said the politician. According to him, the congress was attended by representatives of 57 regional party organizations.

Recall that Maxim Suraikin was removed from office on March 18, 2022 by the decision of the congress of the “Communists of Russia” for “systemic discrediting of the party and the bourgeois way of life.” Opponents accused him of ties “with the pro-Western financial and political circles of unfriendly states”, as well as of trying to “bind the party with loan agreements in their favor and in favor of their relatives.” Sergei Malinkovich was elected the new chairman of the Central Committee, and the Ministry of Justice approved these changes.

Kommersant’s well-informed sources, close to the presidential administration, then explained that Mr. Suraikin had ceased to suit the Kremlin’s internal political bloc, since he had stopped listening to his recommendations. In addition, questions arose in the administration about how he conducts the financial affairs of his party.

Maxim Suraikin told Kommersant that all documents following the results of the congress held on Sunday would be submitted to the Ministry of Justice on Monday. The team of Mr. Malinkovich does not recognize the legitimacy of the Sunday event and the decisions taken on it.

An informed Kommersant source close to the presidential administration is skeptical about the prospects for the return of the former leader of the Communists of Russia to politics. According to him, Mr. Suraykin is not supported either in the Kremlin or in the Moscow mayor’s office. The interlocutor also doubts that the politician managed to enlist the support of a sufficient number of party branches.

The “Communists of Russia” have traditionally positioned themselves as the main opponents of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and its “opportunist” leadership. The “old” communists, in turn, called this party an openly spoiler project, which the authorities use to pull votes from the Communist Party.

Andrey Vinokurov