The Communist Party of the Russian Federation is losing deputies – Newspaper Kommersant No. 7 (7452) of 01/17/2023

As it became known to Kommersant, on the eve of the autumn elections to the Yaroslavl Regional Duma, local communists began to have personnel problems. Regional Duma deputy Shakir Abdullaev has already announced his withdrawal from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, and several other members of the Communist Party faction, according to Kommersant’s information, may be nominated for the new convocation of parliament from the Just Russia – For Truth party (SRZP). The leadership of the Yaroslavl cell of the Social Revolutionaries is ready to accept defectors from the Communist Party.

The desire of a number of members of the Communist Party faction in the Yaroslavl Regional Duma to run for the next convocation of parliament (elections will be held on September 10) from SRZP was told to Kommersant by the chairman of the council of the regional branch of the Social Revolutionaries, State Duma deputy Anatoly Greshnevikov. “Two people have already contacted us, we have held talks, but so far no decisions have been made,” the politician said. He did not name the potential defectors.

Meanwhile, at the end of last week, Shakir Abdullayev, a well-known politician in Rybinsk (the second largest city in the Yaroslavl region), announced his withdrawal from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation on his VKontakte page. He explained his decision by changing the party strategy. According to him, recently he began to notice that “it turns out that the strong are afraid not only outside the party, but also inside it.” “The last bowl of patience was the draining of the mayoral elections in our city in 2022,” Mr. Abdullayev specified.

Recall that in April last year, the Rybinsk city committee of the Communist Party recommended nominating deputy Abdullaev for the post of mayor, but the bureau of the regional party committee did not agree with this decision, after which Shakir Abdullaev himself proposed the candidacy of his assistant, deputy of the Rybinsk City Duma Oleg Leontiev. The latter eventually took second place with a score of 19.11% of the vote, and the victory was won by self-nominated Dmitry Rudakov, supported by the governor. These elections had to be held ahead of schedule due to the unexpected resignation of the mayor Denis Dobryakov, who was re-elected for a second term in September 2021 with 42.6% of the vote. Shakir Abdullayev took second place in the 2021 elections, gaining 28.7% of the vote.

According to Mr. Abdullaev, last year, “a stronger candidate should have been nominated” for the post of governor of the Yaroslavl region. Mikhail Paramonov, the first secretary of the regional committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, took part in the elections for the head of the region for the second time in a row, taking second place with a score of 6.14% of the vote. The winner was the acting governor, ex-deputy head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service Mikhail Evraev, who ran as a self-nominated candidate. “Dialogue, respect for other opinions, respectful attitude (the most valuable thing on which the foundation of any party should be based) towards party comrades began to be absent inside the party,” wrote Shakir Abdullayev.

When asked by Kommersant about negotiations with other parties regarding the nomination to the Yaroslavl Regional Duma, the deputy replied that so far he had not entered into a dialogue with anyone and he “still has one and a half to two months” for this. However, the ex-communist did not rule out the option of self-nomination. Anatoly Greshnevikov told Kommersant that Shakir Abdullayev was not among the members of the Communist Party faction who applied to the SRZP. At the same time, the leader of the Yaroslavl Social Revolutionaries noted the professionalism of the former communist and declared his readiness to support him. The leader of the Communist Party faction in the Yaroslavl Regional Duma, Elena Kuznetsova, told Kommersant that she does not comment on internal party issues in the media.

After Shakir Abdullayev left the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, nine deputies remained in her faction in the regional Duma. In this regard, Anatoly Greshnevikov stated that the regional branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation is experiencing serious problems after the death of long-term communist leader Alexander Vorobyov from coronavirus in August 2021. SRZP, on the contrary, significantly increased the year before last: it was joined by the former governor of the Yaroslavl region, Anatoly Lisitsyn, who, together with Mr. Greshnevikov, brought the party victory in both single-mandate districts of the region in the elections to the State Duma. The third representative of the region in the lower house of parliament from the SRZP was the People’s Artist of the Russian Federation Nikolai Burlyaev, who headed group No. 35 in the party list (Vladimir, Ivanovo and Yaroslavl regions).

As Kommersant previously reported, this year’s elections to the Yaroslavl Regional Duma will be held according to new rules. The total number of deputies has been reduced from 50 to 46, and the number of those elected by party lists from 25 to 12. Another 34 deputies will be elected in single-mandate constituencies.

Alexander Tikhonov, Yaroslavl