Residents of the regions annexed in 2022 registered in the pre-election personnel project of United Russia

Residents of the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions have registered to participate in the election personnel project of United Russia (ER) Politstart (previously called Politstartup), the press service of the party reported. Of the more than 5,900 participants in the program, 166 represent new regions; in total, 38 constituent entities of the Russian Federation take part in Politstart.

The EP notes that residents of the annexed territories are “actively registering” to participate in the project.

The leaders in the absolute number of registered participants are the Rostov region (467 people), Ingushetia (216), Moscow region (168), Volgograd region (159 participants) and Irkutsk region (108 participants). The average age of participants is 29 years, 47% of them are women.

Roman Romanov, director of the United Russia Higher Party School (HPSh), deputy head of the party’s Central Election Commission, said that candidates can “gain the knowledge and skills that are so necessary in the election campaign.” Among the areas in which lectures by VPSh experts will be held are electoral sociology, candidate positioning, work with media, campaigning on the Internet.

Vedomosti reported on January 30 that Politstart is positioned as a project aimed at renewing the deputies in the regions at the expense of those “who, through their work and service, were together with the country in difficult times.” Among the lecturers for potential candidates are sociologist Viktor Poturemsky, political strategist Alexei Kurtov, political scientist Yevgeny Minchenko, representatives of party projects, including the Women’s Movement ER (47% of the participants in Politstart are women), etc. They will accompany the candidates during the primaries, and then the election campaign.

Political strategist Pyotr Bystrov recalls that many winners of United Russia’s personnel projects of past years have made “a certain political career.” “I think that in the new regions the project is also intended to play the role of a social lift that will help identify capable young careerists and make them full-fledged participants in political life,” he told Vedomosti.

Participation in traditional procedures and practices is an important element of the political integration of regions, political scientist Konstantin Kostin believes. According to him, the personnel projects of party institutions “have long become an effective tool both for preparing newcomers for work and for adjusting the tracks of current politicians.” According to the expert, the party space “should be unified and efficient.”