United Party of Russia – Newspaper Kommersant No. 31 (7476) dated February 18, 2023

In the outgoing week, President Vladimir Putin held meetings with leaders of opposition parliamentary factions. He was supposed to meet with United Russia representative Vladimir Vasiliev, but the latter’s PCR test showed a positive result. But other politicians at the meeting with the president not only did not criticize the current government, but also expressed their support for it. For example, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov bluntly stated that the Communist Party values ​​dialogue with the president, LDPR chairman Leonid Slutsky invited the entire opposition to rally around Mr. Putin, and the head of the New People, Alexei Nechaev, reported to the president about the “atmosphere of unity” in the State Duma. All party members touched upon the special military operation in their speech. Experts believe that on the eve of the presidential address to the Federal Assembly, the opposition parties have shown themselves to be different wings of the same “party of power.”

President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with the leader of the United Russia faction in the State Duma, Vladimir Vasilyev, will take place after the announcement of the message to the Federal Assembly, scheduled for February 21. This was announced to journalists on Friday, February 17, by the press secretary of the head of state Dmitry Peskov. According to the source “RIA News”Vladimir Putin was unable to meet with United Russia this week due to the deputy’s positive test for the coronavirus.

Meetings with leaders of opposition factions were partly broadcast on TV channels. Among the leaders of the parliamentary opposition, Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, was the first to meet with Mr. Putin on Monday, February 13. The open part of the conversation lasted 4 minutes 11 seconds.

Vladimir Putin congratulated Gennady Zyuganov on the 30th anniversary of the formation of the Communist Party, and in response he recalled that the head of state always responded to requests, proposals and legislative initiatives of the Communist Party.

“In this regard, we value the dialogue that has developed, and especially at the present time, when, in fact, a crusade and a new war have been declared against our civilization, the entire Russian world,” the leader of the Communist Party said. Mr. Zyuganov also mentioned the cohesion of society against the backdrop of a special operation in Ukraine and emphasized that the main thing now is the “party of Russia”: “Its sovereignty, independence, our common freedom.” According to the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the entire left-patriotic bloc of 56 organizations “unanimously and actively supports” Donbass.

A little later that day, Mr. Putin received LDPR leader Leonid Slutsky. The open part of their meeting lasted 3 minutes 40 seconds.

The speech of the liberal democrat was concentrated around the events in Ukraine and assistance to the participants of the special operation.

For example, the party “took under its wing” the “Sew for Ours” movement, where female ascetics sew camouflage nets, balaclavas and jackets for the military. Mr. Slutsky also shared some of the “considerations” of the faction, which, however, are “not breakthrough and not revolutionary”, because “now people need not breakthroughs, but common sense and a constructive position.” Opposition parties, according to the liberal democrat, should not “grab on to their opposition, but be closer to the people and solve the problems that really stand today.” Leonid Slutsky did not speak about direct inter-party consolidation in the open part of the meeting with the president, but the next day at the plenary session of the State Duma, on behalf of the Liberal Democratic Party, he invited all opposition parties to “stand shoulder to shoulder” in support of the president, the country and victory.

The President’s meeting with the head of the faction of the Just Russia – For Truth (SRZP) Sergei Mironov took place on Tuesday, February 14. Its open part lasted five and a half minutes. It was Mr. Mironov who mainly spoke at that time.

The leader of the SRZP put forward proposals in the field of demographic policy and support for a special operation – for example, he proposed declaring 2024 the “Year of a large family” and increasing the size of the mother’s capital for the birth of a third child.

To support the military in the special operation zone, the leader of the SRZP offered to help the Russian Post, for example, with subsidies, so that every soldier could receive a parcel of up to ten kilograms from anyone once a month.

Aleksey Nechaev, leader of the New People, completed a series of meetings with the President on February 15. Its open part lasted just over five minutes.

The party member at the meeting talked mainly about building a strong economy, spoke about the party project for the development of youth entrepreneurship, thanked the president for supporting “common sense positions” and noted the “atmosphere of unity” in the State Duma.

“But, what is very important, unity is not in monotony, when everyone is the same, but in diversity, when positions are voiced, including polemics, which may be sharp, but at the same time, the goal, of course, is the good of Russia,” said Mr. Nechaev.

Political consultant Yevgeny Minchenko considers this series of presidential meetings to be a conversation with “different wings” of the party in power. According to Mr. Minchenko, such a unity and consensus of the opposition is logical “under the threat of external pressure.” “Nevertheless, we see that parties are trying to rebuild on some specific issues. But in general, I think that, rather, they are now distributed according to the instrumental principle, ”the expert noted. Thus, in his opinion, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation is responsible for the Soviet legacy, the Liberal Democratic Party for radical patriots, New People for the future and development projects, and the SRHR is still in search, therefore it offers local initiatives, for example, about the status of military personnel and private military companies. In general, parliamentary parties now do not demonstrate opposition to the authorities, but are trying to find their niche in a constructive path, the expert concludes. According to political scientist Vladimir Shemyakin, on the eve of the message to the Federal Assembly, which, most likely, will be devoted to the topic of the special operation, it was logical to show that the parties in this matter, as before, are in solidarity with the head of state: “Since the beginning of the SVO, the leaders of parliamentary parties have not only they did not allow critical statements about the operation, but they supported it in every possible way, ”recalls Mr. Shemyakin.

Elena Rozhkova