Feast

Pskov parliamentarians showed themselves and looked at others

On March 19, at 10 am, the freshly minted deputies of the Pskov Regional Assembly of the fourth convocation gathered for the first organizational meeting.

The Great Hall of the House of Soviets was unrecognizable - in a square of deputy tables that once accommodated a little over three dozen people's deputies, additional "jobs" had to be added, and the resulting rectangle occupied almost the entire space.

The rookie deputies, a significant part of whom, perhaps for the first time ever, crossed the threshold of the regional parliament's session hall, timidly huddled against the walls. Deputies with experience, on the contrary, walked past them with the air of regulars. Most of all, it resembled a school line dedicated to the Day of Knowledge, when everyone exchanges news and examines the “newcomers” with interest.

Of the forty-four newly elected parliamentarians, 31 showed up at the appointed hour. The winner of the Winter Olympics, Mikhail Ivanov, contrary to his usual habit, was without skis, but in a suit and tie. Mikhail Gavunas, on the contrary, appeared at the meeting in a frivolous sweater. Among those absent, unfortunately for everyone, were football player Dmitry Alenichev and vice president of the Leninets holding company, curator of the youth policy of the United Russia party, as well as the son of a personal friend of President V.V. Putin and simply “St. Petersburg”, Andrey Turchak.

Everyone shook hands and congratulated each other, but they did not dare to take places at the square table, discussing for a long time where it was better. In the end, the communists occupied their habitable corner, United Russia filled the entire “left wing”, which served as a haven for the opposition in the Assembly of the third convocation, and the right-wing Russians, headed by Mikhail Bryachak, defiantly sat down opposite, thereby, obviously, emphasizing their current antagonism with the “party authorities".

For some reason, Mikhail Gavunas did not sit down at the table and sank into a chair behind his colleagues. Perhaps subconsciously emphasizing his role in the behind-the-scenes mechanisms of Pskov politics. Nobody argued with his choice. But the 29-year-old Natalia Demenok, who is the chief livestock specialist of the Velikoluksky SPK Krasnoye Znamya, was almost forced to be escorted to the table by the staff of the Assembly by force. In the end, Natalya Valeryevna took a place next to Dmitry Matveev, whose victory in the single-mandate district allowed her to receive the coveted mandate.

The meeting itself took only 25 minutes. First, the chairman of the regional election commission of the Pskov region, Mikhail Ivanov, presented temporary certificates and permanent deputy badges to parliamentarians elected on party lists. Mikhail Gavunas and Dmitry Khritonenkov, having received badges, for some reason immediately exchanged them. True, almost immediately they changed their minds and exchanged again.

When a temporary certificate (by the way, these documents looked extremely undignified - no better than the cards of journalists accredited with the administration of the Pskov region) was handed to Alexander Rogov, United Russia Yuri Brokhman turned to Mikhail Gavunas, who was sitting behind him, and asked in a loud whisper: “this is the one the most, Pechora?..” Mr. Gavunas nodded reservedly in response.

The chairman of the regional election committee has already handed out badges to single-mandate deputies - they have already been handed certificates in the district election commissions.

Then, to organize the first meeting of the Assembly, the deputies elected an organizing committee of ten people. It included United Russia members Viktor Antonov, Mikhail Gavunas, Boris Karakaev, Boris Polozov and Leonid Kostritsa, liberal democrat Alexander Khristoforov, right-winger Igor Smirnov, communist Sergei Gogolev, and Yuri Shmatov, who acted in two guises at once: as an independent candidate and as the oldest Member of the Regional Assembly. He was unanimously elected chairman of the organizing committee.

This ended the agenda of the meeting. For some time the parliamentarians huddled together in the hall, discussing the news, and went about their business. Employees of the Assembly apparatus began to collect from the tables the notebooks carefully prepared for the people's representatives, the pages of which the deputies did not bother to stain with a single thought.

As it became known later, at the meeting of the organizing committee it was decided to convene the first session of the regional Assembly of deputies of the fourth convocation on March 23. Its agenda includes 9 issues, including the election of the Chairman of the Assembly and his deputies, as well as chairmen, deputies and members of the standing committees of the regional parliament.

In addition, it was decided to invite Governor Mikhail Kuznetsov, all his deputies, the region, heads of districts, heads of federal structures, as well as deputies of the regional Assembly of the third convocation, who were not included in the current composition, to the session. How they all fit in the hall, filled to the brim with deputy tables - I'll never know.

Maxim Kiselev.