The deputies talked about the sore – Newspaper Kommersant No. 169 (7370) of 09/14/2022

The autumn session opened in the State Duma on Tuesday. At the first meeting, the leaders of the factions commented on the course of the special military operation in Ukraine and the past elections. The leaders of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and New People said that due to the monopoly of United Russia in a number of regions, the voting results distorted the real political space and crossed out the political system “which Putin created with such difficulty.” United Russia Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin replied philosophically that a “complex structure” built “on the basis of dialogue” is indeed more effective.

The leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Gennady Zyuganov, was the first among the leaders of the factions to take the Duma rostrum. He criticized the regional and municipal elections that ended on September 11. According to the communist, “United Russia” did not hear the parting words that President Vladimir Putin expressed to the Duma factions in the Kremlin. “He demanded the cohesion of society, but what kind of cohesion can there be when another Cerberus has been appointed in Krasnodar who does not understand that elections are primarily a rivalry of candidates and a full-fledged dialogue. Not a damn thing was left of it, another sultanate appeared in the south of Russia,” Mr. Zyuganov was indignant. Separately, he mentioned the municipal elections in Moscow, where in one of the ballots there were eight communists – “two of ours, the rest are all fake.” For this, according to the leader of the Communist Party, “officials who are rooting for their ass” are responsible.

Gennady Zyuganov also expressed the opinion that remote electronic voting and mass expression of will at home completely cross out the political system that President Putin “created with such difficulty.”

“I urge you to bring everything in line with the real situation,” he called on the authorities.

Aleksey Nechaev, leader of the New People, spoke with similar rhetoric, noting that in some regions local authorities are striving for a political monopoly. In his opinion, it is necessary to abandon the three-day voting, which prevents opposition parties from fielding observers, and from the “increased use” of home and early voting, where “there are many signs of administrative mobilization.” In addition, Mr. Nechaev believes, it is necessary to return party lists in the municipal elections.

The leader of the New People recalled that at the initiative of the president, half of the Duma committees in the eighth convocation are headed by representatives of the opposition factions (who have a total of just over a quarter of the mandates), “because the federal leadership has an understanding that representation is very important, a discussion arises “. “We see that in the localities the vertical of power is beginning to distort the political space,” he said. The deputy cited the example of the City Duma of Tver, where United Russia won all the seats, which does not correspond to sociology (elections in Tver were held exclusively in single-mandate districts).

Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, commenting on this speech, noted that those leaders of regions and municipalities who “try to form everything in their own interests, as a rule, are short-lived.” “A complex structure – it shows great efficiency, because it is built on the basis of a dialogue,” he added.

But the LDPR is satisfied with the election results, its leader Leonid Slutsky said. His speech was mainly devoted to the special military operation in Ukraine: according to the Liberal Democrat, deputies should pay special attention to defense spending when considering the budget.

The head of A Just Russia – For the Truth, Sergei Mironov, also fully concentrated on the special operation: he repeated not for the first time that “the denazification of Ukraine without the elimination of the Zelensky regime (Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.— “b”) is impossible” and that it is time to destroy the railways and key bridges there. The leader of the Spravorossov also believes that when considering the budget, the deputies “should not spare money so that our army has enough of everything.”

Dmitry Vyatkin, the first deputy head of the United Russia faction, did not comment on the results of the elections or the oppositionists’ critical statements about his party, confining himself to a story about United Russia’s legislative work plans for the autumn session.

Maria Makutina