Translated material
Battle of Volgograd
As a result of the internal conflict, United Russia may lose the post of mayor of the hero city
The political scandal in Volgograd related to the expulsion of hero city mayor Evgeniy Ishchenko from the United Russia party seems to have reached a dead end. The press service of the Volgograd regional branch of United Russia reported the suspension of the decision to expel the mayor of Volgograd from the party.The fact is that Mr. Ishchenko, as promised, turned to the regional control and audit commission and the political council with statements about violations committed in the process of making this decision. True, at the headquarters of the Volgograd branch of United Russia, the mayor is advised not to delude himself, since the procedure has only been postponed for a period of no more than two months. However, in the ranks of the local political elite there is no clear opinion about the actions of the leader of the Volgograd United Russia party Oleg Kersanov. Some political scientists are inclined to consider his actions hasty. And since serious competition has developed in the ranks of the party in power between candidates for leadership positions in the regions, it is possible that in the near future Mr. Kersanov himself may also face serious problems.
Meanwhile, initiative groups are already being created in the city, demanding the early resignation of the head of the city administration. The other day, a rally was held at the city hall building under the leadership of the chairman of the public organization “Union of Russian People - Russian Community” Stanislav Terentyev, which brought together about 500 people demanding the resignation of Yevgeny Ishchenko. Delegates of the rally went to a meeting of the City Duma and tried to get their demands included on the agenda of the meeting. However, the protesters were supported by no more than a dozen deputies. But this already indicates a significant decline in the mayor’s popularity among Volgograd residents.
According to the latest studies of the socio-economic situation in Volgograd, the assessment of the mayor’s performance has dropped to the lowest level during his tenure. And this is connected not only with the scandal around the Volgograd Utility Systems (only 5.7% of citizens consider Mr. Ishchenko guilty of corruption among housing and communal services officials) and not so much with the planned cooperation, and then break with United Russia, about which less than 10% of Volgograd residents know. According to sociologists, the fall in the mayor's rating was facilitated by a combination of factors that increased the overall negative background around his person.
The most likely successors to Yevgeny Ishchenko as mayor are the deputy of the regional Duma, member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Roman Grebennikov and the former candidate for the post of governor, businessman Nikolai Volkov. However, the deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation is significantly ahead of the businessman in terms of trust and has a much greater chance of winning in the event of Yevgeny Ishchenko’s resignation and early mayoral elections.