| Dmitry Rogozin took the place of Sergei Glazyev as head of the Rodina faction The conflict between the two co-chairs of the Rodina bloc, Sergei Glazyev and Dmitry Rogozin, came to its logical conclusion yesterday. Forces hostile to Glazyev won, removing him from his post as head of the Rodina faction. 22 out of 38 Duma “Rodinets” signed a letter to the Rules Committee about the removal of Glazyev and the appointment of Rogozin to his post. In addition, deputies recall Rogozin from the post of deputy speaker from Rodina and recommend appointing Sergei Baburin to this post. The day of Glazyev’s overthrow became one of the most dramatic in recent Duma history.
An extraordinary meeting of the Rodina faction was supposed to begin yesterday at one o'clock in the afternoon. There were two issues on the agenda: determining the position on Mikhail Fradkov’s candidacy for the post of prime minister and the re-election of the faction leader. Glazyev called on colleagues who were dissatisfied with his leadership to come and declare their position, looking him in the eyes. However, the call was not heeded, and the “anti-Glazyev” part of the faction gathered in Rogozin’s office at 9.30. Deputies were offered a ballot with five options for removing Glazyev. In one version it was proposed to change him to Baburin, leaving Rogozin as vice-speaker, in another - to give the chair of the faction leader to Viktor Gerashchenko, in the third this place was given to Valentin Varennikov, in the fourth Rogozin was given both positions, in the fifth the deputies recalled Rogozin from the post of vice -speaker to lead the faction, giving this post to Baburin. As a result, the last option received the most votes.
Glazyev has repeatedly asserted that his opponents are acting at the behest of the presidential administration and called them “puppets.” Yesterday, Rogozin, announcing the faction’s decision to journalists, adopted its rhetoric: “One of the Kremlin towers initiated Glazyev’s nomination for the presidency. I am categorically against the interference of the presidential administration in the affairs of our faction. There should be no puppets in politics.”
As a complaint against Glazyev as leader, Rogozin stated the lack of organization of the faction’s work due to the fact that the entire apparatus is busy in his presidential campaign. “The faction is not organized. We don’t even have a “Motherland” sign. It’s still written: Agro-industrial group,” Rogozin said.
“The decision was made with extortion, with arm-twisting,” Sergei Glazyev told reporters. “But attempts to overthrow me by collecting signatures have no legal force.” The faction must gather and make a decision openly.”
However, the State Duma regulations do not define exactly how a faction should overthrow its leader. “No one has the right to interfere in the activities of deputy associations. Whether signatures will be collected or whether an open meeting of the faction will take place does not matter. There is no specific order. The removal of a faction leader, especially as a result of a conflict, is generally a rare case,” Oleg Kovalev, chairman of the State Duma Rules Committee, told a Vremya Novostei newspaper correspondent.
Despite the fact that the faction’s decisions should only be approved at today’s meeting of the rules committee, yesterday two people with a screwdriver came to Glazyev’s office and began unscrewing the name plate in front of journalists. Glazyev’s assistants arrived in time and knocked off the sign, but most likely not for long.
Glazyev, meanwhile, took up other pressing issues, namely the presidential election campaign. Yesterday he sent an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin demanding that he prevent the further use of dirty technologies against him as a candidate for the post of head of state. Ksenia VERETENNIKOVA |
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