Translated material
Party builder
Will Vladimir Resin be able to replace Yuri Luzhkov not only in United Russia?
Expectations of a radical change of power in the capital's mayor's office may not come true. At least in the near future. Yesterday, Vladimir Resin, who is acting as mayor temporarily, acquired a United Russia party card. The question that many are now asking is whether this will help him get rid of the interim prefix. Mr. Resin himself, however, managed to declare that he “should not be” on the list of candidates, that a person 20-25 years younger would be preferable in his place, and that his entry into the party in power was due to other reasons.United Russia members in the Moscow City Duma have already approved the membership of the “experienced business executive” in the party. “United Russia today plays a very important role in the life of our society, and I am pleased to be a party member with Vladimir Iosifovich,” Andrei Metelsky, leader of the United Russia faction in the Moscow City Duma, told Vremya Novostei. In his opinion, the new mayor will at least be a “reliable, dedicated party member.”
As the head of the executive committee of the Moscow city regional branch of the party in power, Viktor Seliverstov, told Vremya Novostei, Vladimir Resin on Tuesday evening, after a meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, wrote an application to join the party. “The decision has been made. From the moment of filing an application, according to our charter, a person is considered a member of the party,” said Mr. Seliverstov. Already yesterday morning, Mr. Resin received a party card. “Vladimir Iosifovich spent three election campaigns with us and the last two as head of headquarters,” said Mr. Seliverstov. According to him, the Moscow urban planner has been an active supporter of the party since January 2008. And in order to become a member of United Russia, it is enough to be among its active supporters for six months.
Let us recall that at the end of September Yuri Luzhkov himself left not only the office of the mayor and chairman of the Moscow government, but also handed over his party card to United Russia. Mr. Resin, throughout Yuri Luzhkov's 18-year reign in the capital, held the key position of head of the city's construction complex. And it was he who, immediately after the resignation of Luzhkov, who had lost the confidence of the head of state, was tasked by President Dmitry Medvedev to temporarily lead the city. Moreover, from the first day of fulfilling his duties as mayor, Vladimir Resin launched active activities, clearly hoping to make a favorable impression on the federal authorities.
First of all, Mr. Resin made a statement that the change of power in the city should not affect the public situation, and promised Muscovites that the “Luzhkov bonuses” would be preserved. In addition, he made a number of sensational decisions for the city’s traditional urban planning policy. In particular, the interim order suspended the construction of the depository of the Moscow Kremlin museums on Borovitsky Hill. Yesterday, Mr. Resin also stated that there was no need to create a covered atrium in the courtyard of the Provision Warehouses on Zubovsky Boulevard . The personnel policy of the mayor's office was also revised. In just a few days, influential officials of the capital's government lost their positions.
Frightened by the radical change in the management team in Moscow, the capital's deputies yesterday looked quite peaceful and satisfied. “If Vladimir Resin is on the list of candidates, this is right, this is worthy,” Viktor Seliverstov told Vremya Novostey. Andrei Metelsky added that “it is not age that makes a person beautiful, but his professionalism.” Let us recall that Vladimir Resin is 74 years old, and this has recently been considered not the most favorable age for leading the region. But the Chairman of the Moscow City Duma, Vladimir Platonov, apparently believes that an exception may well be made when choosing the chief manager for the capital. “I know that a ballerina can officially retire at 33, but many continue their professional activities and continue to delight people with their art,” he told Vremya Novostey. “I would not be upset if I saw Vladimir Resin on the list of candidates, and I would be happy if I saw any high-class professional, decent and courageous person on this list,” he said.
Political scientists agree that Vladimir Resin has a chance to get on the list of mayoral candidates. In particular, according to Deputy General Director of the Center for Political Technologies Alexei Makarkin, his entry into United Russia was most likely sanctioned by party leader Vladimir Putin. According to Mr. Makarkin, Mr. Resin’s obvious distancing from part of Yuri Luzhkov’s legacy makes it clear that the official is performing some kind of ritual. At least now United Russia has an official motive for nominating this candidate. In addition, the figure of Mr. Resin, he believes, will allow the federal authorities not only to control the mayor's office, but also to stabilize the situation in the city. “By and large, Muscovites see no alternatives, and any candidate is now unpopular,” the political scientist believes.
However, according to Mikhail Vinogradov, president of the St. Petersburg Politics Foundation, Mr. Resin’s chances of becoming a key candidate for the post of mayor of Moscow are slim. “But the appointment of a temporary figure has its own reasons,” he told Vremya Novostey. Both political scientists agree that Mr. Resin, as a representative of Luzhkov's team, can calm the most sensitive part of the electorate - the capital's pensioners.
Yabloko leader Sergei Mitrokhin believes that “outside power, Vladimir Resin is extremely vulnerable.” And now he and his team are trying to do everything to maintain their positions. According to Mr. Mitrokhin, the figure of Mr. Resin “least of all personifies any changes.” “But it is precisely a fundamental change in the policy of the city authorities that Muscovites are waiting for,” said Sergei Mitrokhin.
However, opinion polls indicate that, by and large, there is no split in society between defenders and opponents of the old model of managing the capital. Two-thirds of Russians, according to VTsIOM, positively assess President Medvedev's decision to resign Yuri Luzhkov. 65% of Russians are sure that Moscow needs a new mayor. True, Russians do not see the person who could lead the capital. The overwhelming majority of respondents (82%) were unable to name a single worthy candidate. However, political scientists believe that “the majority of residents of the capital are satisfied with Luzhkov’s paternalistic model,” and they will at least react calmly to Resin’s appointment.
President of the Effective Policy Foundation Gleb Pavlovsky believes that Vladimir Resin could cope with the work of the head of the capital's government. However, in his opinion, Mr. Resin may be hampered by the fact that the construction complex under his supervision is closely connected with the Inteko company, which is headed by the wife of the former mayor. “Such a burden will drag him down,” said Mr. Pavlovsky, who believes Moscow needs a “younger technocrat.”