Three heads of regions will take part in pre-election debates

On August 13, the election campaigning of candidates for governors began in the regions (in total, there are 14 campaigns in the country). Under the law, candidates are given a certain amount of free airtime for campaigning on equal terms, it is distributed by lottery, which is organized by regional election commissions. The minimum amount of airtime on state television and radio channels is 30 minutes on weekdays, half of which must be spent on joint campaigning activities, i.e. debates.

As a rule, acting heads of regions and acting governors do not participate in them. “The tradition of participating in debates has gone since Vladimir Putin interrupted it. He did not participate in the debate, now it is accepted at all levels and is not something out of the ordinary, is not perceived as a violation of the norm,” says political strategist Oleg Zakharov. This year, three regional leaders decided to break the tradition, Vedomosti calculated: the acting governor of the Yaroslavl region, Mikhail Evraev (self-nominated), as well as the governors of the Kaliningrad region, Anton Alikhanov and the Sverdlovsk region, Yevgeny Kuyvashev (both United Russia).

In the Kaliningrad region, the debate is going on in pairs between the two candidates. On August 19, Evgeny Mishin (LDPR) and Yuri Shitikov (Fair Russia) will discuss. Alikhanov will take part in a debate on August 24 with communist Maxim Bulanov, and then on August 26 with Mishin. Two meet in the Sverdlovsk region: for example, on August 22, Kuyvashev will meet with Alexander Kaptyug (LDPR). The candidate from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Alexander Ivachev has already called Kuyvashev to the debate. But on television, they will not intersect, it follows from the results of the draw. Experts call Ivachev Kuyvashev’s strongest rival.

Debates in the Yaroslavl region started on August 16, and all five candidates participated in them at the same time. The second meeting of candidates is scheduled for August 25. The format of the debate is not debatable: all participants answer the same questions of the moderator. According to Zakharov, it is important for Evraev to show “his closeness to people and openness,” since before one of the reasons for people’s discontent was the governor’s closeness in terms of “talking with people.” “We do not see a threat in the debate,” an interlocutor at Evraev’s headquarters told Vedomosti.

Kuyvashev, who decided to debate, benefited from a public discussion with TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov, when the governor stood up for Yekaterinburg, says political analyst Alexander Kynev. “The story of the attacks on the region helped him a lot, and if he had previously seemed like a stranger, then against the background of the attacks he was able to stand in solidarity with the inhabitants of the region,” Kynev said. Zakharov also notes that “the image of a person who is ready to argue and speak out” must be preserved. Alikhanov Kynev calls “an objectively strong governor” without any special competitors, so he is also “not afraid of debate.”

Governors, who refuse to debate, prefer the standard way of campaigning – traveling to problem areas and promising objects, Zakharov says. “Candidates from power usually refuse to debate, because for them this is a format for repelling attacks from the opposition: the previous leader is presented with the last years of government,” said political analyst Ilya Grashchenkov. At the same time, the acting and current heads practically do not mention the topic of the special operation in Ukraine. It is used by Right-wing Russians, communists and LDPR candidates, says Grashchenkov.