Yesterday, the Rodina (People's Will - SEPR) faction added another phrase to its name - "Patriots of Russia" and changed its leader. The changes began in December, when the leader of the Patriots of Russia party Gennady Semigin and four other independent deputies joined the faction. By a majority vote, it was decided to elect Semigin as the new leader and change the name. Baburin and SEPR chairman Vasily Shestakov were against it. At the end of December, the faction presidium suggested that the deputies reconsider this decision. A document published on the Narodnaya Volya website states that it was adopted "in violation of the bloc's statutory documents," and the SEPR website reported an appeal to the rules committee with a request not to register the changes.

Nevertheless, yesterday Semigin held the first meeting of the faction. Baburin retained the post of vice-speaker and confirmed to Vedomosti that he is ready to give the post of faction leader to Semigin. Within a week it will be decided what “we will get in return,” Baburin hopes.

There was no takeover: the majority of deputies "invited us and offered me to head the faction," Semigin told Vedomosti. According to him, the association will soon be replenished with another ten parliamentarians - independents and from Rodina. The deputies believe that Semigin will strengthen the pre-election positions of their parties, says faction member Sergei Glotov.

Having headed the faction, Semigin demonstrated vigorous legislative activity. Last year, according to the legislative base of the State Duma, the deputy did not introduce a single initiative. At yesterday's meeting of the faction, the new leader proposed 15 bills at once. The first will be introduced to the State Duma today - toughening the punishment for falsifying the election results.

At the same time, Semigin is stepping up party building. In November, the leaders of Patriots of Russia and four other parties with a social democratic orientation announced a unification of efforts on an equal basis. But now the leader of Patriots is talking about a merger on the basis of his party and names a deadline – by the end of March.

The prospects of the faction led by Baburin were initially illusory: it was a Kremlin project with the aim of weakening Rodina, recalls Deputy Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Kashin. In all election campaigns – 2006, Baburin received about 1%, Semigin took several percent more, notes Deputy from Rodina Oleg Shein.

There are currents in the Kremlin that really don't like the "A Just Russia" project - they are creating a competitor for it: Semigin gets single-mandate candidates with their own electorate in order to put them at the head of party lists, explains political scientist Yuri Korgunyuk. The replacement of the leader is logical: Baburin is making deals with the authorities, but at the same time he is a person with convictions, and Semigin is completely controllable, the expert adds.

Semigin intercepted the faction