The head of the parliament of Khakassia, Vladimir Shtygashev, who left the United Russia, goes to the polls from the Communist Party

The speaker of the Supreme Council (parliament) of Khakassia, Vladimir Shtygashev, who recently left the ranks of United Russia, became one of the leaders of the list of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in the elections of deputies of the new convocation: he took second place after the head of the region, communist Valentin Konovalov, who is simultaneously running for a second gubernatorial term. The transition of a politician of this level from the ruling party to the opposition camp is unprecedented for the Russian regions, political analysts say.

On June 24, the Communist Party of the Khakassian Republican Committee at the second stage of the party conference approved the list of candidates for the upcoming September elections. Its all-republican part included the head of the region Valentin Konovalov, the speaker of the Supreme Council Vladimir Shtygashev, the chairman of the parliamentary committee on budget and tax policy Oleg Ivanov, and lawyer Oleg Zemtsov. “Thus, in the autumn elections in Khakassia, the combined forces of communists, patriots and non-party people will be represented by today’s leaders of the republic’s executive and legislative authorities,” the republican committee summed up.

At the same time, Mr. Shtygashev was nominated as a candidate from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in single-mandate constituency No. 9, where Vitaly Mikheev, director of Abazinsky Rudnik LLC, is running for United Russia.

Recall that 25 deputies are elected to the Supreme Council of Khakassia according to party lists, and the same number – in single-mandate districts. Vladimir Shtygashev, 83, has led the republican parliament since its inception in 1992. For the last 15 years, he has been a member of United Russia, and in the previous parliamentary elections in 2018, he occupied the second line of the party list of United Russia. However, as Kommersant already reported, on June 15 of this year, Mr. Shtygashev wrote a statement about his withdrawal from the ruling party. In an interview with the republican media, the speaker explained that he left the ranks of United Russia, because “all sorts of unworthy people are there.”

“Under the leadership of communist Valentin Konovalov, the government of the Republic of Khakassia ensured the implementation of the budget, doubling the budget in 2021-2022. There has not been such an example in the history of modern Russia for 30 years, ”the now non-party speaker said at a conference of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, explaining his appearance on the party list of communists. We add that Oleg Ivanov and Oleg Zemtsov are also non-partisan. Mr. Ivanov in the 2018 elections ran for the Supreme Council in a single-mandate constituency from the Party of Pensioners.

“The logic of events brought the elder of regional politics to us. Inclusion in the top three, that is, a deliberate mandate, is not a gift and not just a sign of respect. The symbiosis is mutually beneficial: obviously, the party associates with the participation of Shtygashev the increase in results in both campaigns, Tayir Achitaev, deputy of the Supreme Council from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, told Kommersant. “It is also extremely important for the inhabitants of the republic to have a sense of security and stability amid great upheavals for the entire state. Shtygashev fulfills this role of a guarantor of order simply by his personal authority.

The regional branch of “United Russia” did not comment on a new round in the political career of Mr. Shtygashev. One of the participants in the intra-party primaries for the selection of candidates for the Supreme Council, after the speaker left the party, told Kommersant that he would like to see Vladimir Shtygashev as an ally of the leader of the local United Russia party and candidate for the post of head of Khakassia, Sergei Sokol. Deputy Mikhail Molchanov, who was included in the top three of the LDPR party list, previously told Kommersant that, having parted with United Russia, Vladimir Shtygashev would not be able to get the post of speaker in the new convocation.

President of the Center for Regional Policy Development Ilya Grashchenkov considers the change of party guidelines by Vladimir Shtygashev “an unprecedented event”, since “not once in the last ten years, at least a figure of the speaker’s level, has moved from one party to another, especially from United Russia to the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.” “Specifically in Khakassia, this makes the Communist Party of the Russian Federation the party of power and strengthens the position of Konovalov. Win (possible.— “Kommersant“) of an opposition candidate will lead to the fact that Khakassia will remain the last region where the communists hold power in an uncoordinated way, as in the Oryol or Ulyanovsk regions, namely due to the broad support of the population,” the political scientist notes.

According to the head of the communications agency Sibmedia Agency Vasily Damov, “in the hands of Shtygashev for 30 years, there were a lot of “threads” of purely administrative.” “In the municipalities there are a lot of people loyal to him, who may not very noticeably during the campaign begin to help the communists and interfere with United Russia,” the expert believes.

As Kommersant previously reported, their party lists for the elections to the Supreme Council of Khakassia have already been approved in United Russia, the Liberal Democratic Party and Motherland. The nomination of candidates will last until July 9.

Valery Lavsky, Novosibirsk