The "Russia" movement gathered in the provinces

party life
On Saturday, the Second Extraordinary Congress of the socio-political movement "Russia" was held in Vladimir. No important decisions were made. The leader of “Russia”, State Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznev gathered members to review the ranks and assure everyone that the movement will live and work, despite the creation of the Party of the Revival of Russia on its basis. Kommersant correspondent YURIY CHERNEGA visited Vladimir together with the “Russians.”
Initially, they planned to hold the congress in Suzdal in order to combine business with pleasure and explore the city rich in attractions. But it didn't work out. Almost all delegates went to the congress via Moscow. On Saturday morning, a special train, the Yasnaya Polyana express (which usually runs to Tula) with 270 delegates from 72 regions, departed from the Kursky station to Vladimir. One of the passengers was Deputy Minister of Railways, member of the political council of the movement Khasyan Zabirov. Gennady Seleznev also boarded the train with the delegates in the last carriage. They started conferring on the way, holding a meeting of the headquarters to organize the congress.
In Vladimir, the congress participants boarded buses, and the column went across the city to one of the local concert halls. The meeting was opened by Gennady Seleznev, who stated that the reason for holding the extraordinary congress was the registration by the Ministry of Justice on the basis of the movement of the Party of the Revival of Russia (it is also headed by the speaker). Mr. Seleznev explained to the delegates that because of this, the activities of the movement will not be curtailed, but, on the contrary, will expand: “It is becoming a kind of people’s patriotic union, around which there is a concentration of healthy forces.” After that, he remembered the unkind word of the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennady Zyuganov, who “persecuts everyone who disagrees with his guidelines.” According to the leader of the movement, today the rating of “Russia” is 1-3%, and the main goal is to create a deputy group in the State Duma of the next convocation.
Next, the chairman of the political council of the movement, Georgy Pryakhin, made a report on the participation of “Russia” in the election campaigns. He cited as an example of successful regional activities the Smolensk region, where an “unhealthy situation” developed before the gubernatorial elections in May of this year. The leadership of the Communist Party put its faith in the current governor, Alexander Prokhorov, and “Russia” “went over to the side of the people” and actively supported the head of the local FSB Directorate, Viktor Maslov, who became governor. In addition, the director of the Smolensk printing plant, with the support of Rossiya, became a deputy of the local regional Duma, ahead of two communists.
The first deputy chairman of the political council of the movement and leader of the Workers' Self-Government Party Levon Chakhmakhchyan spoke about his party, which enjoys “great sympathy” of the Armenian diaspora. Then he told the congress delegates about the work on the development of people's enterprises in the spirit of the ideas that were actively promoted by the founder of the party, Svyatoslav Fedorov.
After this, the conversation turned to the Party for the Revival of Russia. Right in the hall, the head of the department of the Vladimir department of the Ministry of Justice presented the representative of the local branch of the party with a certificate of registration of the branch. “We managed to achieve this result so quickly because all administrative resources were used,” admitted the happy owner of the document, but realized that he had said too much and quickly left.
“Why are there two parties in the movement at once?” — I asked the delegate sitting next to me. An activist who wished to remain anonymous said directly: “So that when distributing places on the list in the Duma elections, they do not dictate their terms to us!” Having clarified that “they” are the Workers’ Self-Government Party.
After the break, the debate began. Delegates and guests spoke about the state of affairs in their regions and wished all the best for the movement. When the floor was given to the people's poet of Kalmykia, David Kugultinov, who was sitting on the podium, he exclaimed: “How did it happen that we defeated Hitler and ended up with nothing?!” After this, the poet began to passionately and inspiredly talk about Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. The delegates listened to a whole lecture about the work of the great poet, learned about the history of the creation of some of his works, and enjoyed the masterful performance of excerpts from poems and the poem "Eugene Onegin". “Pushkin became Pushkin only because Russia was great,” the Kalmyk poet said soulfully. After that, he set a task for “Russia”: “The main work of the party is to strengthen the spirit of the Russian people.” The audience gave David Kugultinov a standing ovation. And Georgy Pryakhin proposed organizing a poet’s creative evening in Moscow under the auspices of the movement.
The final speech was made by Gennady Seleznev, who spoke about his feasible contribution to the construction of a social state, which was declared the main goal of his movement and party. “We have pushed forward the government version of the law on housing and communal services,” the speaker boasted. “We should do the same with energy reform!” The hall roared approvingly. And Mr. Seleznev continued: “If we had our own faction in the Duma, we could move mountains...”

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 208/P dated November 18, 2002, p. 3

Authors:

Yuri Chernega

"All administrative resources were used"