The Communists defended their comrade – Picture of the Day – Kommersant

The Samara Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation decided not to punish a member of their faction in the regional Duma, Mikhail Abdalkin, who literally listened to President Vladimir Putin’s message to the Federal Assembly with noodles on his ears. Earlier, Comrade Abdalkin was criticized by both local communists and the leadership of the party, but their position changed when the deputy was fined under the article on discrediting the authorities.

The Bureau of the Samara Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation considered the appeal of the regional parliament with a proposal to impose on the deputy Mikhail Abdalkin “the penalties provided for by the charter and apply to him the extreme measure of punishment in the form of dismissal from leadership posts and expulsion from the party.” An “exhaustive answer” to this initiative was sent to the Samara Provincial Duma, Kommersant was told in the press service of the regional committee, but they refused to disclose its content.

As a source familiar with the situation told Kommersant, the Samara communists decided not to punish Mr. Abdalkin in any way, and responded very categorically to the Duma’s claim, emphasizing that “they make decisions on their own and representatives of other parties do not have the right to interfere in their activities.” Mikhail Abdalkin confirmed to Kommersant that the bureau of the regional committee considered his case, but flatly refused to comment on it.

“I have no right to discuss and announce the decisions of the party in the public space. But the decision has been made,” he added.

Recall that with noodles on his ears, the communist Abdalkin watched a fragment of the message, during which the president spoke about the “long centuries of colonialism, diktat, hegemony” of the United States and NATO, accustomed to “spitting on the whole world”, as well as about the “cynical deception” associated with “ fables about the search for peace, about adherence to the resolutions of the UN Security Council on Donbass.” The reaction to the video published on social networks followed immediately: on February 28, the regional Duma expressed a “public censure” to the deputy and turned to law enforcement agencies, and on March 16 fined for 150 thousand rubles. according to part 1 of Art. 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Mikhail Abdalkin discredited “the exercise by state bodies of their powers outside the Russian Federation”, and he did this as an official – in the parliament’s office. At the end of March, the deputy appealed against the decision of the court.

The fine changed the rhetoric within the Communist Party. Initially, the press secretary of party leader Gennady Zyuganov, Alexander Yushchenko, called Comrade Abdalkin’s behavior “extremely unethical” and “inappropriate for a deputy,” and also said that the federal party bodies themselves could make some decision on his case if this was not done in the regional committee . However, after the court’s decision, he said that using the discrediting article against “active deputies, who may not even be right from the point of view of ethics, is at least redundant.”

Kommersant’s interlocutors in the leadership of the Communist Party found it difficult to clarify whether the case of the communist Abdalkin would be considered in Moscow.

“Everyone has forgotten about him. We have carried out all the events within the party. And there is no desire to make a hero of our time out of his nonsense,” Mr. Yushchenko told Kommersant.

The head of the United Russia faction in the regional parliament, Alexander Zhivaikin, confirmed to Kommersant that a letter had come to the thought from the first secretary of the regional committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Alexei Leskin, in which he declared freedom of political activity and the inadmissibility of interference by state authorities in the affairs of the party. Data that Mikhail Abdalkin escaped punishment on the party line “was not officially received by the Duma”, and there are no grounds for re-consideration of this issue by the Duma, he added. Nevertheless, Mikhail Maryakhin, head of the Just Russia – For Truth faction, told Kommersant that, in his opinion, the response of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation should be publicly considered at a meeting of the regional parliament at the end of April. Mr. Leskin did not answer Kommersant’s calls.

Ani Ayvazyan, Samara; Andrew Ashes