"Total grievances"

The mayor of Smolensk lost his party card and the trust of United Russia

The crisis spares no one, not even United Russia. First, the party in power had to cut costs on its good deeds - such as the construction of stadiums and playgrounds. Now life forces us to curb our appetites for the upcoming elections to the regional legislative assemblies of a number of subjects in March. According to rumors, in some regions internal party orders have lowered the bar for the required election result to 50%, while in others it is required to get no less than in the last elections. Problems also began in local elections. The scandal in Smolensk promises to be loud, where the current mayor Vladislav Khaletsky was recently expelled from United Russia.

According to the disgraced mayor, the party in power punished him for his unwillingness to give way to businessman Valery Razuvaev, whom United Russia decided to support in the upcoming mayor elections. Mr. Khaletsky claims that the decision to expel him was made with violations. For example, the political council of United Russia did not hear his report on the work done. “Moreover, no one even notified me that the political council was going to consider this issue. A bunch of people got together and behind the scenes decided the issue in their own interests,” the mayor told reporters, promising to appeal the actions of the political council in court. And he has already fulfilled his promise. He is convinced that the political council of United Russia violated the party charter. In his opinion, United Russia is “putting on a show to cleanse the party ranks” for the sake of Mr. Razuvaev’s victory.

United Russia claims that Khaletsky was expelled for incompetence. “He did a poor job as mayor. The sewerage accident could not be eliminated for several months, Deputy Secretary of the General Council of United Russia Valery Ryazansky told a Vremya Novostei correspondent. - He is responsible for his work. He had the trust of the party, and he lost it. Since he has not stood the test of time, he must either agree with this measure or prove that it is erroneous. He chose the second option. You may ask why before the elections. Firstly, the governor's power has recently changed, and the mayor's work has begun to be assessed more strictly. Secondly, elections are always certain milestones when results are summed up and assessments are given. There are those who pass the test and those who fail. If he asked for trust, he promised to change the team and start working normally. Instead, it’s all grievances.”

Mr. Ryazansky is convinced that the Smolensk story will not damage the image of the party in power, but, on the contrary, will add political capital to it. “Because United Russia does not support candidates who have lost the trust of citizens. It would be worse if we continued to support administrators who are presumptuous and do not know how to work,” said the deputy secretary of the party’s general council.

Meanwhile, not only the current mayor of Smolensk was expelled from the party, but also other candidates for mayor - Eduard Kachanovsky, Yuri Mikhailov and Igor Yukhimenko. Probably, United Russia did not want a repeat of the situation that arose last October in Nizhny Tagil . There, in the mayoral elections held on October 12, the party officially nominated banker Alexei Chekanov. However, five more United Russia members nominated along with him and refused to withdraw their candidacies. As a result, self-nominated member of United Russia, vice-speaker of the City Duma Valentina Isaeva won. Second place was taken by another United Russia member, Vyacheslav Pogudin, and the official candidate from the party in power finished the election campaign only third.

As a result, the federal leadership of United Russia decided to remove from office the head of the regional branch of the party, Alexander Levin, who simultaneously holds the post of head of the governor’s administration. At the same time, Mr. Levin himself said that United Russia was for the first time faced with such an unprecedented manifestation of internal party democracy. He proposed discussing the current situation at the November congress of United Russia. Mr. Levin insisted that the party did not formally lose, because the winner of the election race is still a member of United Russia. But the party leadership did not tolerate such internal democracy.

Ksenia VERETENNIKOVA