The Moscow branch of the LDPR has changed leadership

The coordinator of the Moscow branch of the LDPR, Dmitry Koshlakov-Krestovsky, resigned from his post of his own free will, and deputy of the Krasnoyarsk City Council Roman Krastelev was appointed acting head of the cell. The final decision on the candidate for coordinator will be made by the city conference, which is to be held in December before the party congress. Experts say that the Krasnoyarsk resident may be a temporary figure and doubt that this appointment will help the LDPR implement plans to form a faction in the Moscow City Duma based on the results of the 2024 elections. At the same time, Mr. Krastelev’s departure to Moscow could have a negative impact on the Krasnoyarsk branch of the party.

Back in August, Dmitry Koshlakov-Krestovsky presented a plan for reorganizing the cell and set the task of increasing the number of Muscovites loyal to the LDPR to 1 million people and providing the party with five seats in the Moscow City Duma based on the results of the 2024 elections, where the Liberal Democrats have never had their own faction. However, on November 22, the coordination council of the capital’s branch unanimously approved Mr. Koshlakov-Krestovsky’s resignation, which he himself announced on social networks. The former coordinator told Kommersant that he left of his own free will; he has no plans to take another position yet, but he remains in the party structure and will “continue to work for the benefit of the party.”

Rumors about a change in the leadership of the Moscow cell of the LDPR appeared in Telegram channels in early November, but the information that it would be headed by the ex-chairman of the youth parliament Maria Voropaeva was denied by the party. However, the candidacy of Roman Krastelev, who was an assistant to the head of the LDPR faction in the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Alexander Gliskov, who was arrested in early November on suspicion of receiving a bribe, was no less unexpected.

The press service of the LDPR told Kommersant that the change of head of the capital’s branch is “an ordinary personnel reshuffle”: “Next fall, elections to the Moscow City Duma are coming, which means it is necessary to strengthen the branch with experienced “field” workers who went through the election round this year. In this case, we are confident that a new approach to organizing management will increase the efficiency of the regional office. Dmitry Koshlakov-Krestovsky performed his official duties professionally, he will continue to work in another direction of party work.” The decision to appoint Roman Krastelev “is based, among other things, on the results of the 2023 elections, where the team of the Krasnoyarsk regional office showed a very worthy result,” the press service added.

Mr. Krastelev was elected to the city council on the LDPR list in September of this year (the party received four mandates), was nominated for the post of speaker, but lost to United Russia member Natalia Firyulina. In the city council, in particular, he actively opposed the concession agreement of the regional authorities with Movista Regions Krasnoyarsk LLC on the development of electric transport, believing that it was unprofitable for the city budget.

Roman Krastelev himself explained to Kommersant that the party charter established a month-long term of office, after which the Moscow party conference will decide who will be the coordinator on a permanent basis. He added that this is a “huge responsibility” and “it will be necessary with his work, a large amount of work, to justify the credit of trust” that the leader of the LDPR Leonid Slutsky personally gave him, recommending him for this post.

In Krasnoyarsk, Roman Krastelev is characterized as an “active and ambitious” politician. “For many years he was Alexander Gliskov’s assistant, in fact his student. Thanks to him, he became a deputy of the Krasnoyarsk City Council, the leader of the LDPR faction,” says local political scientist Alexander Chernyavsky. “Very active, visible in the media space, very ambitious. Of course, the LDPR after the arrests of Gliskov and Natarov (Vice Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Sergei Natarov was detained in December 2021 in the case of large-scale theft during the northern delivery, the case was sent to court.— “Kommersant”) is now in a deep crisis. Krastelev’s departure, naturally, is not a plus. There are no leaders in the department yet.”

Krasnoyarsk City Council deputy from the LDPR Semyon Sendersky called his colleague “a legally savvy politician, the likes of which we don’t have many of.” Aleksey Boykov, a member of the LDPR faction in the regional legislative assembly, also considers Roman Krastelev “a fairly qualified deputy.” “He represents the party in the Solnechny microdistrict. He was responsible for ideology and the media during the election campaign,” says the deputy. “I don’t quite understand how he will solve the issues of the residents of Solnechny, conduct receptions and work as an assistant to Alexander Gliskov in the legislative assembly, taking into account his work in Moscow. He’ll probably get rid of some responsibilities.”

Member of the LDPR Supreme Council Vasily Vlasov, who was recently deprived of his powers as a State Duma deputy, believes that, like himself, Dmitry Koshlakov-Krestovsky “paid for his activity.” “Apparently, the party leadership has no interest in strong candidates participating. I don’t know Krastelev. Either they want him to go to the Moscow City Duma, or they appoint the most loyal person who will hold pancake festivals and will not raise issues that are difficult for the leadership. I am very surprised by the latest personnel appointments in the party. The management removes old personnel that have shown themselves well and installs new ones,” Mr. Vlasov told Kommersant.

Political scientist Alexander Asafov believes that the LDPR has “quite a good position” in Moscow, judging by the fact that its candidate, State Duma Deputy Speaker Boris Chernyshov, took third place in the 2023 Moscow mayoral elections. “Long before the start of the campaign, it is difficult to talk about prospects. Will a change in Moscow leadership have an impact? Of course, the question will be who will replace him. We don’t know who the conference will approve. A lot depends on who leads the organization. If it were Boris Chernyshov, already recognizable to Muscovites, this would be one situation; if a person from the region who did not work in Moscow would change everything. Still, Dmitry Koshlakov-Krestovsky has been in the service of the party for many years, from the point of view of understanding the context of Moscow politics, he is the most competent,” the expert notes.

“This decision is partly a reaction to the collapse of the Krasnoyarsk LDPR after the arrest of Gliskov,” says political scientist Rostislav Turovsky. “Krastelev belonged to his team. This is an excellent career continuation for him. But this decision does not create any prospects for the LDPR in Moscow. The city organization has always been extremely weak, the authorities do not take it into account. Therefore, I don’t see any prospects of getting into the City Duma.”

Ksenia Veretennikova; Valery Lavsky, Novosibirsk