The campaign for the regional Duma elections has started in Kolyma

regional elections

Yesterday, a campaign campaign for the elections of deputies to the regional Duma began in Magadan. United Russia, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Our Motherland - Kolyma bloc are allowed to participate in the elections based on party lists, but it will be difficult for them to create real competition for the party in power. United Russia is represented in the elections by the region's top officials, and local media are inaccessible to other parties.

Elections to the Magadan Regional Duma are scheduled for May 22. For the first time, they will be held under a mixed system: 13 of the 25 seats in the Duma will be occupied by candidates elected on party lists, another 12 deputies will be elected in single-mandate constituencies. The voting on party lists will be attended by United Russia, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Our Motherland - Kolyma bloc, which was formed by the Union of Right Forces, Yabloko and the Democratic Party of Russia.

Initially, the Russian Party of Pensioners (RPP) was also included in the list of election participants, but on April 18, the regional election commission canceled its registration due to the reduction of the party list by more than a quarter - four out of twelve candidates filed a statement of self-recusal. According to federal election legislation, in this case the party is not allowed to participate in the elections. The RPP is trying to restore registration: today the Magadan regional court is to consider the party’s complaint against the actions of the election commission.

Officially, the campaign campaign started in the Magadan region yesterday, but in fact, election participants have been engaged in active campaigning for a long time. At the same time, until now, local media have been available for advertising of only one party - United Russia. Regarding the facts of United Russia's violation of campaign rules, the Our Motherland - Kolyma bloc has already sent ten applications to the election commission and the prosecutor's office. The authors of the complaints accuse the party in power of abusing administrative resources. In particular, this applies to statements by the mayor of Magadan, Vladimir Pecheny, who is running from United Russia in a single constituency, about reducing tariffs for housing and communal services.

Opponents of the party in power were also dissatisfied with the results of the draw for free airtime that took place recently. According to the head of the regional committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Valery Sadchikov, on the Magadan TV channel MPK, controlled by the mayor’s office, time for political advertising was distributed as follows: paid campaigning begins at 20 o’clock, at the most rated time, and free campaigning starts at 23 o’clock. So “people who don’t have money won’t be heard.”

However, as the chairman of the regional branch of the Union of Right Forces, Alexander Sechkin, believes, the administrative resource of the party in power does not yet guarantee it victory in the elections. “It seems to me that this is a colossus with feet of clay. Judging by the latest polls, people no longer trust this party,” he told Kommersant.

Only the LDPR refrains from criticizing United Russia. “Instead of criticizing, we are creating a positive image of ourselves in the media,” Yuri Grishan, coordinator of the local party branch, told Kommersant. He emphasized that the Liberal Democrats will argue in the media with both the Our Motherland - Kolyma bloc and the Communists.

MARINA Kommersant-KRAVCHENKO, Magadan

No one will hear the poor parts