Translated material
Atmospheric physicist
The new president of Russia will be chosen by an old friend of Vladimir Putin
On Tuesday, 13 out of 15 members of the Central Election Commission voted for the appointment of its new member, LDPR nominee Vladimir Churov, as head of the Central Election Commission. Mr. Churov has a thick beard (an unexpected attribute for current statesmen), a close acquaintance from working together with Vladimir Putin and no legal education (he majored in atmospheric physics). The new head of the Central Election Commission is not a member of any party and therefore formally claims to provide an objective assessment of the electoral process. In December 2007 and March 2008, the hitherto virtually unknown Vladimir Churov will have to conduct two key federal election campaigns - parliamentary and presidential.At the organizational meeting at the CEC yesterday, representatives of all government bodies that nominated candidates to the commission were present. Deputy head of the presidential administration Vladislav Surkov praised the outgoing head of the Central Election Commission Alexander Veshnyakov (he was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree) and wished the new composition of the commission, in addition to “all the best in his personal life,” to maintain continuity. For some reason, Mr. Surkov spoke about Mr. Veshnyakov in the past tense, as if he had passed away and not from the Central Election Commission: “He was an open and principled person.”
Alexander Veshnyakov himself, in his farewell speech, listed all the achievements of the election commission under his rule and again named the points on which he did not agree during the changes to the electoral legislation: “We conducted several federal campaigns, the results of which were recognized by the international community, all conflicts were kept within legal bounds. At the same time, the old norm obliging political parties to have only 10 thousand members (now 50 thousand - Ed. ) is a reasonable requirement. Unfortunately, the technology of “steam locomotives” remained in legislation and is widely used. And the new initiative to distribute mandates by representatives of the political parties themselves is generally very dangerous.”
Later, answering a question from journalists why it was necessary to change the head of the Central Election Commission (Alexander Veshnyakov was not among the five presidential candidates), Vladislav Surkov answered: “In a democratic system, periodic changes of leadership are a normal solution.” Regarding the recent adoption of amendments allowing members of the election commission not to have a legal background, Mr. Surkov admitted that he “does not have a clear position.”
Let us recall that recently amendments were made to the legislation, according to which members of the Central Election Commission and heads of regional commissions may not have a legal background . At the time the law was adopted, experts and journalists assumed that in this way United Russia wanted to increase its representation in subject commissions. Now it turns out that the law was changed so that a non-lawyer could become the head of the Central Election Commission.
Vladimir Churov got into the Central Election Commission under the Duma quota from the Liberal Democratic Party. But at yesterday’s meeting, he insisted that he has not been a member of parties since 1991, but is only part of Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s faction in the Duma. This cannot be called a hardware victory for the LDPR, but rather another service from the Liberal Democrats to the Kremlin. Appointing a representative of United Russia as head of the Central Election Commission would be overkill.
A member of the Central Election Commission with an advisory vote from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Vadim Solovyov, in a commentary to Vremya Novostey, called this appointment “a victory for the St. Petersburg people, not the LDPR.” And the newly elected secretary of the commission, Nikolai Konkin, even considers talk about strengthening the position of the LDPR at the expense of Mr. Churov’s new position a “curiosity.” Vice Speaker of the State Duma from the LDPR faction, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, previously stated his indifference to the fact that Mr. Churov could head the Central Election Commission: “For the LDPR, this does not matter at all; neither this nor any other appointment affects the objectivity and integrity of the elections will not have a decisive impact, since there has always been election fraud.”
Vladimir Churov became the only contender for the position of head of the commission and was proposed by CEC member Elena Dubrovina. The day before, the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennady Zyuganov said that the communists would nominate CEC member Yevgeny Kolyushin, who has been elected as a member of the Central Election Commission from the Communist Party faction for three consecutive terms, to the post of head of the Central Election Commission. But yesterday, Mr. Kolyushin was proposed only as a deputy and, based on the number of votes, lost this place to former senator Stanislav Vavilov.
Before the secret ballot, the candidate for the post of head of the Central Election Commission could be asked questions. Responding to a request to comment on the current election legislation, he stated: “I am less inclined to comment on the current law, and more inclined to implement it, seeking literal compliance from all participants in the election process.” And to the question about the use of so-called “steam locomotives” at the head of party lists, which Alexander Veshnyakov stubbornly fought against, Mr. Churov responded with a not very impressive joke: “I am familiar with many heads of the subjects of the federation, but not one of them looks like a steam locomotive "
The new head of the Central Election Commission promised to fight administrative resources if they go beyond the law. According to Vladimir Churov, “to balance the opinions of lawyers, the CEC must have a physicist, but one who respects the law.”
Who is Vladimir Churov
Vladimir Churov was born on March 17, 1953 in St. Petersburg. He graduated from the Faculty of Physics of Leningrad State University, and in 1977 received a diploma in physics with a specialty in atmospheric physics. He emphasizes his non-partisanship, although he was elected to the State Duma in 2003 on the LDPR list. In 1992, a year after Vladimir Putin headed the external relations committee of the St. Petersburg mayor's office, Mr. Churov began working under his leadership. And three years later, Vladimir Churov became first deputy and then head of the regional cooperation department of the St. Petersburg mayor's office. In 2000, Vladimir Churov headed the committee’s international cooperation department. In 2003, Mr. Churov applied for the post of member of the Federation Council from the Leningrad region, but he was not elected as a senator.
Author of the historical story "The Secret of the Four Generals".