Three for a mandate – Newspaper Kommersant No. 198 (7399) dated 10/25/2022
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This week, United Russia (ER) intends to decide on the transfer of the mandate of the deceased State Duma deputy Nikolai Petrunin. According to Kommersant’s sources, three candidates are being discussed, each of which has its own advantages. Thus, the delegation of the head of the executive committee of the United Russia, Alexander Sidyakin, to the Duma will strengthen his status and strengthen the connection between the party apparatus and its Duma faction. Giving federal powers to the deputy chairman of the Tula Regional Duma, Alexander Rem, will allow taking into account the interests of the regional authorities. And the transfer of the mandate to Andrey Parfyonov, a former employee of the executive committee and staff technologist of the United Russia, will be a recognition of his many years of service to the party.
The powers of the only deputy elected on the Tula list of the United Russia, Nikolai Petrunin, who died on October 12, were terminated by the State Duma on October 18. From that moment on, the party has two weeks by law to decide on his successor.
The decision to transfer the mandate should be made this week, but the final choice has not yet been made, says a Kommersant source close to the leadership of EP. Four interlocutors of Kommersant in the party and the State Duma name three candidates who can claim the vacant deputy seat: this is the head of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the party and deputy secretary of its general council Alexander Sidyakin (Vedomosti reported on his possible delegation to the Duma last week) ), head of the central interregional coordinating council of the United Russia Andrey Parfenov, as well as deputy chairman of the Tula Regional Duma, leader of the United Russia faction Alexander Rem.
Alexander Sidyakin headed the executive committee of the United Russia in December last year. Sources of “Kommersant” in the party then explained that his actual powers would be wider than those of his predecessors, as evidenced by the combination of the posts of head of the CEC and deputy secretary of the General Council of the United Russia. Kommersant’s source in the leadership of United Russia already then assumed that in the future, for even greater political weight, Mr. Sidyakin could also receive a mandate as a State Duma deputy or a member of the Federation Council. In addition, according to Kommersant’s interlocutor in United Russia, Mr. Sidyakin’s deputy status will help strengthen the connection between the party apparatus and its Duma faction. Recall that in the elections to the State Duma-2021, Alexander Sidyakin, who then held the post of head of the administration of the head of Bashkiria, was included in the republican list of United Russia, but refused the deputy mandate. However, the law allows him to become a deputy even after the first refusal.
The candidacy of Andrei Parfyonov, according to the interlocutor of Kommersant, arose on the basis of the “logic of justice.” From 2012 to 2021, he was deputy head of the CEC and head of the department for regional and technological work. In fact, Mr. Parfyonov was a full-time political strategist for United Russia and led it through a series of difficult election campaigns, and after the elections he participated in resolving difficult issues with regional elites. It was assumed that after the 2021 elections he would change his position in the CEC to a Duma mandate, but his sixth place in the list of United Russia in the Samara region turned out to be impassable. Nevertheless, a Kommersant source in the party leadership then promised that United Russia, which had already left the United Russia apparatus, would be able to count on the first vacant seat in the Duma.
However, in order for the United Russia to be able to transfer the mandate to Alexander Sidyakin or Andrey Parfenov, according to the law, all members of the Tula party list must first renounce it. But the situation, according to one of Kommersant’s Duma interlocutors, is complicated by the fact that this region is headed by Alexei Dyumin, whose opinion cannot be ignored. “We definitely need to come to an agreement with him. It would be easier with another region, but Alexey Dyumin has significant weight. And it may be important for him to represent the region in parliament,” the source explains. And taking into account these factors, the mandate may well go to the deputy chairman of the Tula Regional Duma, Alexander Rem, who occupied the sixth position in the regional list of United Russia. Moreover, Kommersant’s interlocutor in the Tula Regional Duma considers this option the most likely scenario: in his opinion, this will be “a logical career development for a politician” who has gone from a municipal deputy to a vice-speaker of the regional parliament. “For Tula residents, it is important that the deputy be his own, and not a visiting guest performer. In addition, according to the law, it is necessary that the candidates following Rem also renounce their mandate. To be honest, I think this will not happen, ”summed up the Kommersant source.
“The transfer of a mandate after the sudden death of a deputy is always force majeure, and the choice of a candidate for his place is largely situational,” explains political scientist Pavel Sklyanchuk. According to him, in this situation there are indeed grounds for the mandate “to remain with the regional group”, and for it to go to one of the party functionaries. “In recent months, the role of the central executive committee of the party has seriously increased. And for an additional status in the political system, the mandate of a State Duma deputy will not be superfluous,” the expert explains. In his opinion, both Andrey Parfyonov and Alexander Sidyakin deserve deputy powers. The first held a single day of voting without failures, and the second does “perform an important task of party building in new territories and prepares a mobilization base for future elections,” concludes Mr. Sklyanchuk.
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