SRZP abandoned the fight for the governor’s seat in four regions

In half of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, where direct elections of governors will be held on September 10, the stage of nominating candidates has ended. So far, the campaign in the Krasnoyarsk Territory looks the most competitive – seven people are applying for a leadership position there. Meanwhile, the Just Russia – For Truth (SRZP) party decided not to field candidates in four regions at once: Omsk, Nizhny Novgorod and Smolensk regions, as well as in Yakutia. And not the fact that this list is final.

Last week, the stage of nominating candidates for governors ended in the Magadan, Novosibirsk, Smolensk, Omsk, Moscow and Voronezh regions, Khakassia, the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.

In the easternmost regions – Kolyma and Chukotka – the campaign is expected to be the least competitive. Magadan governor Sergei Nosov (United Russia) was opposed by the leaders of the Communist Party and Liberal Democratic Party factions in the regional Duma Sergei Goncharenko and Roman Isaev, as well as businessman Oleg Prikoki (SRZP). Representatives of the same three parties will compete with the acting head of Chukotka, Vladislav Kuznetsov (ER), who in March replaced Roman Kopin, who held the post since 2008: deputies of the district Duma Vladimir Goltsov and Yulia Butakova, as well as the director of the local post office Alexander Semerikov.

To register, they all need to enlist the support of local heads and deputies in order to pass the so-called municipal filter. In the Magadan region, it is 10% – these are 15 signatures that must be submitted to the election commission before July 16, in Chukotka – 9%, or 28 autographs (until July 26).

In the Novosibirsk Region, Governor Andrei Travnikov (ER) is planned to compete with Legislative Assembly Deputy Roman Yakovlev (KPRF), Vice Speaker of the Novosibirsk City Council Yevgeny Lebedev (LDPR), businessman Vladislav Plotnikov (SRZP) and ex-deputy of the Altai Regional Legislative Assembly Andrei Shchukin (Communists of Russia “). To do this, by July 26, they need to get 257 municipal signatures (5%).

The same number of rivals advanced against the Voronezh governor Alexander Gusev (ER). In addition to him, the leaders of the Communist Party and the Liberal Democratic Party factions in the regional Duma Andrei Rogatnev and Pavel Bolshov, volunteer Yaroslav Tarasov (SRZP) and businessman Igor Borisov (Motherland) announced themselves for the elections. The “new people”, who kept the intrigue to the last, refused to participate in the race: it turned out that the Voronezh State Duma deputy Anton Tkachev, who was expected to be a candidate, simply did not reach the required age of 30 years (he is 29). Until July 26, nominees need to collect 252 signatures (5%).

A very solid pool of candidates is also gathering in the Moscow region. There, three deputies of the regional Duma, Alexander Naumov (KPRF), Kirill Zhigarev (LDPR), and Anatoly Nikitin (SRZP), as well as ex-State Duma deputy from the Union of Right Forces, now deputy of the Dolgoprudny City Council, Boris Nadezhdin (Civic Platform “). In the Moscow region, the municipal filter is 7%, or 90 signatures, which must be submitted to the commission before July 6. Messrs. Vorobyov, Zhigarev and Naumov, by the way, have already done this.

The most competitive campaign at the moment looks like the election of the head of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Acting Governor Mikhail Kotyukov (ER), who in April replaced the “heavyweight” of the Krasnoyarsk politics Alexander Uss, was put forward by five deputies of the legislative assembly at once: the heads of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the LDPR and the SRZP factions Andrey Novak, Alexander Gliskov and Maxim Markert, as well as Denis Terekhov (“New people”) and Irina Ivanova (“The Greens”). In addition, ex-deputy Ivan Serebryakov is going to the polls from Rodina. To get on the ballot, each of them needs to enlist the support of 5% of the municipalities (280 autographs).

A curious situation is developing in Khakassia, where State Duma deputy from United Russia Sergei Sokol is running against the governor from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Valentin Konovalov. In addition to the deputies of the local parliament Mikhail Molchanov (LDPR) and Olga Shirkovets (SRZP), as well as entrepreneur Alexei Khabarov (Motherland), the namesake of the candidate for the presidency of the Russian Federation in the 2018 elections, the former member of the Communist Party Vladimir Grudinin, entered the race. He was put forward by the “Communists of Russia”, who are considered “spoilers” in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Mr. Konovalov submitted 123 signatures of municipalities (10%) for verification and became the first registered candidate on July 1, the rest have until July 16.

In the election of the governor of the Smolensk region, so far most of the representatives of non-parliamentary parties: the Communists of Russia (doctor Roman Shklavets), Rodina (pensioner Igor Yasinsky) and the Party of Pensioners (head of the regional department Dmitry Vasilyev) put forward their candidates. From the Duma parties against the acting head Vasily Anokhin (ER), who in March replaced the liberal democrat Alexei Ostrovsky, deputies of the Smolensk city council Andrey Maksimov (KPRF) and Mikhail Kovalev (LDPR) are running. The filter here is 7%, or 140 signatures.

At the same time, the SRZP did not nominate a candidate for Smolensk governors. The council of the regional branch nominated Andrei Ivanov, the head of the cell, for this role, but the federal leadership “recommended a different solution,” Mr. Ivanov himself explained to Kommersant. A similar situation has developed in the Omsk region: there the Social Revolutionaries decided to support the acting governor Vitaly Khotsenko, who in March replaced their fellow party member Alexander Burkov. As a result, they plan to compete with the acting deputy of the State Duma from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Andrei Alekhin, the deputy of the legislative assembly from the Communists of Russia Vladimir Kazanin and the little-known liberal democrat Maxim Makalenko. In addition, four more self-nominated candidates turned up for the Omsk elections, but they have practically no chance to overcome the filter. The barrier here is 5% – that’s 210 signatures.

We add that earlier the Socialist-Revolutionaries refused to fight for the chair of the head of the Nizhny Novgorod region, explaining this step with gratitude to the governor-United Russia Gleb Nikitin, who surrounded the co-chairman of the SRZP Zakhar Prilepin with care after the May assassination attempt. And on June 30, a similar decision was announced in Yakutia. The reason for this was the rebellion of the Wagner PMC, which was previously sympathized with in the SRZP. According to State Duma deputy Fedot Tumusov, after the events of June 23-24, the party leadership decided “not to rock the boat” and abandoned plans to nominate their candidate against the head of Yakutia, Aisen Nikolaev (ER).

It is possible that the Socialist-Revolutionaries may withdraw from the race in other regions as well. For example, on July 3, the stage of nomination for governor of the Oryol region ends, but the local cell of the SRZP has not yet nominated its candidate. Ruslan Perelygin, a deputy of the regional council and leader of the Oryol Socialist-Revolutionaries, who had previously spoken about his intention to run for this post, found it difficult to clarify to Kommersant whether he would do it, saying that “there is still time.”

At the same time, the federal leadership of the SRZP does not link the refusal to nominate its candidates with the consequences of the rebellion. According to the secretary of the Presidium of the Central Council of the Party for Political Affairs, Dmitry Gusev, there is no such problem, and the local party members made a decision based on their own considerations: “They considered it necessary to do so in the current situation. So it’s the right decision.”

Andrey Ashes; Alexander Asadchiy, Smolensk; Sergei Tolmachev, Voronezh