The head of the Supreme Council of Khakassia Vladimir Shtygashev left the “United Russia”

Vladimir Shtygashev, who has been head of the Supreme Council (SC) of Khakassia since the early 1990s, has left United Russia. In the party, his decision was explained by the inability of the 83-year-old “elder” to fit into the renewal of party structures, which began with the arrival of State Duma deputy Sergei Sokol as leader of the Khakass United Russia party. Opinions of politicians and experts on the political future of Mr. Shtygashev are divided, but some of them believe that the veteran will compete for a seat in the new convocation of parliament as a candidate from another party or as a self-nominated candidate.

Vladimir Shtygashev sent an application for withdrawal from United Russia (ER) to the head of the regional branch of the party, Sergei Sokol. The speaker did not give a reason for his decision. It was not possible to get a comment from Mr. Shtygashev to Kommersant, his assistant did not confirm or deny the fact of filing an application.

“Vladimir Nikolaevich, of course, is an aksakal of Khakass politics, but he has been speaking in the spirit of the Communist Party for a long time. After the reboot, many young and enterprising people came to the Khakass regional branch of the United Russia party, it is difficult to keep up with them. For us, such a decision by Vladimir Shtygashev is quite expected after the preliminary voting. We treat this decision with respect, ”commented the decision of the chairman of the Armed Forces in the republican branch of the United Russia. Recall that Sergei Sokol headed the Khakassia United Russia party in December 2021.

Vladimir Shtygashev has been heading the republican parliament since the early 1990s. Yevgeny Cheltygmashev, an independent deputy of the Supreme Council, in an interview with Kommersant called him “the guarantor of the stable work of the Supreme Council.” Mr. Shtygashev joined the United Russia in 2007. In 2018, he was elected to the new composition of the Armed Forces on the party list of the United Russia. On the website of the republican branch of the party, Vladimir Shtygashev is listed as a member of the presidium of the regional political council.

On September 10, elections of the Supreme Council of the new convocation will be held in Khakassia. 25 deputies will be elected from party lists and another 25 from single-mandate constituencies. As Kommersant previously reported, Vladimir Shtygashev and several leaders of the United Russia faction did not accept participation in intra-party primaries.

In April, the speaker’s disagreements with most of the United Russia faction went public: Mr. Shtygashev lashed out at fellow party members who voted to do not accept report Communist leader of Khakassia Valentin Konovalov on the work of his government in 2022.

“The punks were joking around here. There are no elections yet, but the election campaign has already begun. Stop, there will be justice for everyone,” said the chairman of the Supreme Court, promising to turn to party leader Dmitry Medvedev.

The opinions of politicians and experts about the further political fate of Vladimir Shtygashev were divided. “Shtygashev is an era in Khakass politics. But all eras pass away sooner or later. I think that, given his advanced age, he is unlikely to remain in active politics, although, as a very experienced person, he can still be in demand as an adviser who knows perfectly well all the intra-elite alignments in the republic, ”says political scientist Alexander Chernyavsky.

At the same time, Tayir Achitaev, a deputy of the Supreme Council from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, did not rule out that the veteran’s political career was not yet over. “If such a seasoned politician closes one door, then we are looking for where he will open the second, since Shtygashev has already announced that he will get out. Whether it will be self-nomination or a party, I can’t say for sure right now. The surprise may be in a week, ”the communist suggested.

Mikhail Molchanov from the LDPR faction agrees that “Vladimir Nikolaevich knows how to surprise.” “I know that there are a number of parties that would like to see him among the leaders of their list. This option is not excluded. But it is clear that the post of speaker, which, in my opinion, is the minimum for him, he will no longer receive. Therefore, I don’t know if it makes sense for him to become a candidate for deputies,” the deputy noted.

So far, none of the parties in Khakassia has approved the list of their candidates for elections to the Supreme Council. Only one applicant applied as a self-nominated candidate.

Valery Lavsky, Novosibirsk