“United Russia” at the congress on December 17 will discuss the issue of presidential elections in 2024

United Russia will hold its congress on December 17, Secretary of the Party General Council Andrei Turchak said on Friday. Most likely, by that time the 2024 presidential elections will have already been called by the Federation Council, and Vladimir Putin may announce his participation in them. According to Kommersant’s sources, the main topic of the congress will be the presidential campaign. Before the December forum, the party will hold special panel discussions dedicated to the meaning of the upcoming elections.

United Russia (UR) has decided on the date of the next congress: it will be held on December 17, Secretary of the Party General Council Andrei Turchak announced on November 10 in his Telegram channel. According to him, United Russia members will gather at the Russia exhibition and forum, which is taking place at VDNKh from November 4, 2023 to April 12, 2024. “The location of it was not chosen by chance. Today, the Russia exhibition is a place where we bring together what our country is proud of. What we believe in. And what we strive for in the future,” explained the United Russia member.

As Kommersant previously reported, this exhibition will become one of the key events of the upcoming federal campaign. According to sources close to the presidential administration (AP), several “activities” related to the presidential elections are planned at this site. In particular, it is there that Vladimir Putin can announce his message to parliament in 2024; the option of recording the president’s New Year’s address on “Rossiya” was also discussed. Finally, according to one of the basic scenarios, at one of the exhibition events, Mr. Putin may announce his decision to go to the 2024 elections. True, for now these are only options that are offered to him by the people responsible for conducting his election campaign, and the final decision on them is made only by Vladimir Putin himself.

Previously, the president said that he would make public his decision on participation in the elections only after they were officially called. “In accordance with the law, our parliament must make a decision at the end of the year: when the decision is made, elections are announced, the date is named, then we’ll talk,” Vladimir Putin answered the relevant question at the plenary meeting of the Eastern Economic Forum in September 2023 th.

A source in United Russia notes that the party congress is planned as a one-day and fairly compact one, since it, in fact, will be devoted to only one issue – the presidential campaign. According to the basic scenario, Mr. Putin will go to the polls as a self-nominated candidate, RBC previously reported. Kommersant’s interlocutors confirm this information. “He is still the president of everyone,” explains a source close to the AP. Nevertheless, United Russia plans to take an active part in his campaign.

According to the source, there will most likely be few speeches at the congress: United Russia Chairman Dmitry Medvedev and several delegates will have their say. Of course, if Vladimir Putin participates in the forum, his speech is also expected (on November 10, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters that a decision on this matter “has not yet been made”). According to Kommersant’s sources, large-scale personnel changes at the congress most likely should not be expected. After all, it is dedicated to the presidential campaign, and it is unlikely that they will plan other news events, explains Kommersant’s interlocutor close to the AP. But there are no final decisions on this issue yet.

Before the congress, the party plans to hold three special panel discussions – in Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow, Andrei Turchak said on Telegram: “Representatives of the regions will take part in them. There we will discuss the current situation, talk about the results of work, primarily on the people’s program. About the plans and position of the party on key issues in the life of the country. We will formulate proposals for the congress there.” At the same time, according to Kommersant’s source, all platforms will be connected with the main semantic lines of the presidential campaign, and the party’s ideological contribution to these elections will be formulated on them.

According to the law, presidential elections should take place on March 17, 2024, and the decision on their appointment should be made by the Federation Council in the period from December 8 to 18, 2023. Based on the date of the congress named by United Russia and the usual schedule of the upper chamber, which usually meets on Wednesdays, senators can call elections on December 13, and the president in this case will probably announce his decision in the days remaining before the United Russia congress.

Let us remember that Vladimir Putin ran in his first and second elections in 2000 and 2004 as a self-nominated candidate, and in 2008 his successor Dmitry Medvedev was nominated from United Russia. When Mr. Putin returned to the Kremlin in 2012, according to a Kommersant source familiar with the intricacies of that campaign, the possibility of self-nomination was also discussed, but in the end his team and he himself preferred nomination from the party as easier and more understandable from a legal point of view . In 2018, Vladimir Putin again used self-nomination, and announced his decision to run on December 6, 2017 at a meeting with workers of the GAZ plant. True, at that time the statement was made even before the official calling of the elections: the Federation Council adopted a corresponding resolution only on December 15. And on December 23, United Russia held a congress, at which, in the presence of the president, it supported his nomination for a new term. “As a responsible political force, we understand that in the current situation it is right for Vladimir Putin to rely on the broadest layers of citizens, and this does not imply party representation,” Dmitry Medvedev said then.

Andrey Vinokurov