06 July 2011, 15:00 Politics

Matvienko gave up the first council

Valentina Matvienko may become a deputy of the Aleksandrovskaya municipal district

Ekaterina Vinokurova , Nikita Zeya (St. Petersburg) Valentina Matvienko can become a municipal deputy from the village of Aleksandrovskaya in the suburbs of St. Petersburg. One of the local United Russia members has resigned, and early elections will be called in the district. Matvienko's press secretary says that the governor has not yet made the choice of the district.

The question of the district from which Valentina Matvienko will try to become a municipal deputy in order to get a senatorial seat has almost been resolved. The municipal council in the village of Aleksandrovskaya lost its powers: this happened after Irina Barannikova wrote a statement about early resignation.

In a statement, Barannikova wrote: “My decision is voluntary. It was caused by the desire to provide the opportunity and create conditions for the governor to participate in the by-elections of the Aleksandrovskaya municipal district

“If Valentina Ivanovna decides to run for office here, it will be an honor for our village and municipality,” says former deputy Barannikova.

Irina Barannikova (nee Volokh) is 29 years old, she is a member of United Russia, a lawyer by training, works as a teacher at the St. Petersburg Institute for Advanced Studies of the Federal Penitentiary Service . In the municipality, she headed the anti-corruption commission. She ran for deputy from A Just Russia, but was not a member of this party. Her father is also a United Russia member, the chief federal inspector in St. Petersburg, Alexander Volokh. Introducing him in 2008 to members of the government of St. Petersburg , Matvienko described Volokh as a "very constructive" person.

Now early elections will be announced in the district, says the head of Aleksandrovsky, Tatyana Kositsina. “We had 7 deputies instead of the required 10,” Kositsina said. — After Irina Barannikova wrote a statement, there were 6 left. According to the law, the council lost its legitimacy. An application for holding elections has already been sent to the election commission.” The election date will be announced within 10 days.

The press secretary of the St. Petersburg governor, Evgenia Altfeld , told Gazeta.Ru that Barannikova’s decision does not yet mean the governor’s consent to be elected from Alexandrovskaya.

“Many municipalities declare their readiness of deputies to resign for the sake of early elections - approximately half of the 111 existing in St. Petersburg. So the governor has a choice. Consultations are currently underway,” said the governor’s press secretary, adding that the end date for consultations is still unknown.

The head of the legislative commission of the Legislative Assembly, United Russia member Vitaly Milonov confirms that there are many municipalities in the city that are ready to resign.

According to his information, Matvienko will announce his participation in the elections no earlier than mid-August; he considers the likely voting date to be September 4.

As Vsevolod Belikov, Chairman of the Council of Municipal Formations of St. Petersburg, told Gazeta.Ru, the village of Aleksandrovskaya is located between St. Petersburg and the city of Pushkin. There are both representatives of the middle class and people of modest means - about 2,300 people in total. Construction is underway in the village, it is developing dynamically, but does not belong to the category of elite or, on the contrary, in distress, Belikov notes, so it is unlikely that he can be elected governor according to any electoral criteria.

The only difference between Alexandrovskaya and other candidates is that there are single-mandate districts, of which there are only three among the municipalities of St. Petersburg, says Belikov.

In terms of status, it would be logical for a governor moving to the post of speaker in the Federation Council to be elected under a single-mandate system, where the only winner receives a deputy seat. Other single-mandate municipalities of St. Petersburg are the Okhta district, where Matvienko’s rating is low after attempts to build the “gas scraper” Okhta Center for Gazprom there, and the Lomonosovsky district.

Sources close to Matvienko have already called the last district the most likely for the nomination of a governor, but there, as elsewhere, in order to hold early elections it is necessary for the current municipal deputies to resign.

However, the head of the municipality, Svetlana Zryakhova, did not want to give up her mandate, and the rest of United Russia members are not ready to leave without her. On Wednesday , United Russia deputies and one independent deputy of the municipality went to the administration of the Petrodvortsovy district, which includes Lomonosov, for consultations with the head of the district, Vladimir Zhuravlev, a deputy of the Lomonosov municipality, a member of the of the Russian Federation Communist Party , told Gazeta.Ru . Last week, Matvienko herself allegedly came to Lomonosov, Zhuravlev says, but she only met with fellow party members.

, a professor at the European University in St. Petersburg For Matvienko, elections in a multi-member constituency would be more advantageous, believes Grigory Golosov . In multi-mandate elections, the intensity of passions is not so great, the tension of the race is low and it is enough not to come first, but only to become one of the leaders in the voting, Golosov told Gazeta.Ru. Matvienko hardly wants the elections with her participation to be intense and become an event of national scale, Golosov adds.