Given a choice

“A Just Russia”, which is losing its last drops of opposition and, accordingly, dignity, has delivered an ultimatum to its rebellious and, with the exception of leader Sergei Mironov, the most prominent members: Gennady and Dmitry Gudkov and Oleg Shein must choose within a month with whom they and where they are - in the Coordination Council of the Opposition or in the party. Ilya Ponomarev must make the same choice, but in relation to the leadership of the Left Front. Gennady Gudkov, whose close relations with the non-systemic opposition (it is unlikely that in fact the reason was problems with security companies) cost him a seat in the Duma, said that he does not intend to leave the Constitutional Court, and is ready to be expelled from the party, but is going to spend the allotted month to convince colleagues that “without participation in the protest movement, A Just Russia has no future,” Kommersant-Online reports. Dmitry Gudkov joined his father and said that he was not changing his views to please the instructions. Shein, on the contrary, wrote in a blog that he was leaving the Constitutional Court, but leaving for himself the opportunity to cooperate with it, for example, regarding the formation of the PEC. Ilya Ponomarev, who withdrew his candidacy for the elections to the Constitutional Court, agreed to leave the leadership of the Left Front, writing in a blog that this does not deprive him of the opportunity to participate in the work of the organization. At the same time, he called on Dmitry Gudkov to join him in “voicing the voice of reason” in the Duma. (It should be noted that there is no talk of depriving Gudkov Jr. of his mandate following his father; the party cannot do this.)

Thus, there are already 43 people left in the Constitutional Court - at the last meeting, held on January 20, Ekaterina Aitova, who was on the list of the left curia, announced her resignation from the council. Now Shein comes out. At the same meeting, it was proposed that the vacant seats on the council be filled by those who did not make it into the Constitutional Court and who received the most votes in the elections. However, the proposal did not receive a majority of votes from the list of the council. The council will likely return to this issue at its next meeting. If Shein does not change his mind, and the proposal is nevertheless accepted, his place may be taken by the singing paratrooper Mikhail Vistitsky.

The main conflict between A Just Russia and the Constitutional Court is possible around Gennady Gudkov. The main officials of the party have already unofficially made it clear that in the upcoming elections for the governor of the Moscow region they will support the candidacy of the failed candidate in the elections for the mayor of Khimki, Alexander Romanovich, and not Gudkov, who will probably be supported by the Constitutional Court. However, it cannot be ruled out that now that the Duma voted in the first reading for a bill allowing the regions to decide for themselves whether to elect their head or not, the matter will not come to direct elections of the governor with the participation of the population, and it is unknown whether A Just Russia will be asked .