Maxim Momot. Wet place

Wet place
Maxim Momot

Publication date: March 4, 2004

On Thursday, Sergei Glazyev was stripped of his post as chairman of the Rodina faction.

Nelly Orlova, press secretary of Sergei Glazyev , with whom RJ managed to contact immediately after the media report about Glazyev’s removal from the post of chairman of the Rodina faction appeared, said that in principle there was no meeting. “This is some kind of private, secret voting, which cannot be called voting,” she emphasized. According to her, Glazyev was absent from the Duma at that moment; he was supposed to come to the faction meeting at seven in the evening and give comments after it.

Sergei Butin, press secretary of Dmitry Rogozin , was no less categorical in his assessment. “Sergei Yuryevich could not cope with his responsibilities and ruined the work of the faction and bloc ,” he commented on the decision of the congress to our publication. “ He began self-nomination, wanting to take the post of president.”

Alexander Konovalov , president of the Institute for Strategic Assessments and Analysis, in a commentary to RJ linked the faction’s decision with possible pressure from the Russian authorities. “This is a direct and targeted instruction from there,” the expert noted. The political strategists realized that they had made a mistake. You can’t create parties if there are no developments to neutralize them in the event that something goes wrong. Rodina's task in the elections was purely technical - to take away 4-4.5% of the votes from the communists, "the task of the partisan detachment is to go behind enemy lines, blow up the headquarters and not return."

A major role in Glazyev’s success in the elections was played by his socio-economic program, which clearly outlined the idea of ​​social justice. The country's impoverished population was close and understandable to the demands to take away natural resource rent, review the results of unfair privatization, raise pensions for old women, etc. Rogozin remained a performer of only technical functions, ready to carry out all instructions from the authorities.

Glazyev began to seriously worry the Kremlin. Unlike the safe and well-fed communist opposition, he grew into a real leader, capable of leading a serious opposition party. Of course, he would not have been able to win the elections anyway, but there was a chance to “stand behind Putin’s shoulder” and put pressure on him for four years. Although, in the opinion of Alexander Konovalov, the implementation of Glazyev’s program is “chaos, blood and disaster for Russia.”

According to the expert, Glazyev will not be able to disavow the decisions made by the faction on Thursday, despite their inconsistency with the formal procedure - holding meetings without the knowledge of the chairman is not entirely correct. Whether the decision made today will somehow affect the percentages that Sergei Yuryevich will receive in the upcoming elections is not entirely clear. However, if he does not score about 10%, it will be a real failure.

Political scientist Leonid Radzikhovsky gave approximately the same assessment in an interview with RJ. “If the Kremlin gets down to business, Glazyev will remain a wet spot, ” he emphasized. “ A popular demagogue, such people are not needed.” Removal from the post of faction leader will most likely have little effect on the elections, but Glazyev’s limited access to television and the inability to conduct a full-scale political campaign will really hurt. It will also not be possible to play the “offended” card.

For the Kremlin, according to Leonid Radzikhovsky, two things are important. Firstly, Glazyev should not get 10% - this is already a scandal. Secondly, he cannot be allowed to take second place. It would be much more decent to allow the harmless Kharitonov there.

Loud quarrels can seriously undermine the image of Rodina before the elections. Boris Mezhuev , deputy editor-in-chief of Cosmopolis magazine, in an interview with RZh, even expressed the opinion that the bloc had lost the right to exist in the face of its voters.

“ The Rodina bloc was ambiguous from the very beginning, there were two sides,” the expert believes. “ The first expressed social and, to some extent, national protest, the second - the desire to play presidential oprichnina.” “Their split was bound to happen in 2004, but I did not connect it with the presidential elections, ” continues Boris Mezhuev, “ differences over the candidacy of the prime minister could have played a major role here.”

RJ's interlocutor called Glazyev's decision to run for the presidential election a big mistake that destroyed his chances of being a major political figure in the next four years. Rather, Sergei Yuryevich should have supported Gerashchenko . The hope of gaining enough votes in these elections for a successful performance in 2008 is illusory. Glazyev could play the role of a mediator between opposition-minded groups and near-government structures. Now this opportunity is lost.