The formation of election lists for the State Duma has been completed

Nizhny Novgorod regional branches of political parties have completed the formation of election lists of candidates for the State Duma. United Russia in their regional group relies on the rating of Governor Valery Shantsev, the Communists will be led to the elections by State Duma deputy Nikolai Ryabov and Arzamas deputy Alexander Tarnaev, “A Just Russia” by Alexander Bochkarev, and the LDPR by the leader of the party faction in the legislative assembly, Alexander Kurdyumov. “Right Cause”, “Yabloko” and “Patriots of Russia” also plan to participate in the elections, but the party composition of the region’s representation in the State Duma will not change - adjustments are possible only in the number of mandates, experts are sure.

The top three leaders of the Nizhny Novgorod United Russia election list, formed based on the results of the preliminary voting, did not change after agreement with Moscow. The list will be headed by Governor Valery Shantsev, State Duma deputy Vadim Bulavinov and tennis player Marat Safin. At the same time, the federal party leadership excluded the head of the administration of Nizhny Novgorod, Oleg Kondrashov, and the regional minister of social policy, Olga Noskova, from the list. But Deputy Minister of Economic Development Alexei Likhachev and State Duma Deputy Speaker Nadezhda Melnikova appeared in it (numbers fifth and seventh on the list, respectively). The absence of Mr. Kondrashov from the list is explained by the secretary of the political council of the NRO “United Russia” Artem Kavinov by the fact that he does not plan to become a State Duma deputy. The presence on the list of Governor Shantsev, who has also repeatedly said that he does not intend to leave the region, according to Mr. Kavinov, is due to the trust of Nizhny Novgorod residents and his high ratings, which also work for the party’s rating. Artem Kavinov is not familiar with Mrs. Melnikova, but hopes that she will “organically join the team of deputies lobbying the interests of the Nizhny Novgorod region.” “The team selected is strong and professional. If the governor is able to glue us together, it means everything will work out,” concluded Artem Kavinov. He did not predict the party’s results in the elections, noting that “no one from above is giving us a percentage,” but United Russia intends to get the majority of mandates.

According to political scientist Sergei Kocherov, United Russia is in vain to rely entirely on the governor’s rating: “One gets the feeling that one has a bipod, and seven have a spoon. The governor already does more for the party than he should; he needs to take care of the economy. And a frontal attack on voters in the “Do you respect me?!” mode is not acceptable. If we follow military terminology, United Russia will have to skillfully maneuver and outflank, including personal motivation - Mr. Kavinov’s eighth position on the list is very risky.” According to the expert, if in 2007 the Nizhny Novgorod United Russia members received seven mandates, this year they can count on five or six. The return to regional politics of Alexei Likhachev, who had already worked as a State Duma deputy from the Nizhny Novgorod region, is considered by political scientist Valentina Buzmakova to be necessary for his employment in connection with the upcoming change in the composition of the federal cabinet of ministers.

The Nizhny Novgorod branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation has formed two regional groups: the northern one will be headed by the leader of the NRO, State Duma deputy Nikolai Ryabov, the southern one will be headed by the deputy of the legislative assembly Alexander Tarnaev. “Taking into account the results of the elections to the legislative assembly and to the council of deputies of Vyksa, we expect to receive four to five mandates as a result of the elections to the State Duma, at least two in each regional group,” predicts the leader of the Communist Party faction in the legislative assembly, Vladislav Egorov. In the leading positions on the list of communists are Dzerzhinsky deputy Alexander Kulikov (second in the northern group) and Muscovite, participant in the Afghan war Denis Voronenkov (second in the southern group). According to political scientist Sergei Kocherov, with a successful campaign and limited pressure from administrative resources, the communists will be able to get two or three people into the State Duma, that is, improve the result of the previous convocation (now the NRO of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in the State Duma is represented only by Nikolai Ryabov - Kommersant).

The list of NROs of “A Just Russia” was headed by the leader of the branch, Alexander Bochkarev. Following him were Vadim Vinogradov, a representative of the central apparatus of the party, Professor of the Russian Legal Academy of the Ministry of Justice, and Alexander Kosovskikh, a member of the legislative assembly. By decision of the Moscow party leadership, local Right Russia deputies Alexei Belkin, Galina Klochkova and Iskhak Yagudin were not included in the list, but Ksenia Motorina, an employee of the party’s press service, was included. According to Mr. Bochkarev, Moscow representatives were included in the list “for security purposes” so that in the event of a “rebellion within the NRO” the regional group would not be disbanded. “One regional group has been formed in the Nizhny Novgorod region - the largest in the country, with a number of voters of 2.7 million people. Therefore, with a normal turnout and receiving 15% of the votes, as we predict, the NRO “A Just Russia” may well receive two mandates in the State Duma,” believes Mr. Bochkarev. “The Moscow party leadership traditionally plays its game, placing its own person in the position after Alexander Bochkarev, to whom he will traditionally give up his place in the State Duma,” says political scientist Valentina Buzmakova. According to Sergei Kocherov, the Right Russia party can receive no more than one mandate.

The regional list of the LDPR was headed by the head of the party faction in the legislative assembly, Alexander Kurdyumov, followed by the head of the department for civil defense, emergency situations and fire safety of the Nizhny Novgorod region, Dmitry Tarasenkov, and the leader of the faction in the city Duma, Sergei Brovkin. Considering the relatively successful results of the LDPR elections to the legislative assembly, Sergei Kocherov believes that the LDPR will be able to slightly improve its previous performance in the Duma elections in percentage terms, but not in terms of the number of mandates - only one person will get into parliament.

Experts assess the prospects of the remaining potential participants in the elections - Right Cause, Yabloko and Patriots of Russia - with skepticism. “After the scandal at the federal level, the “right-wingers” can forget about getting into the State Duma, “Yabloko” can only count on something if the country’s leadership decides to show the West that there are liberals left in Russia, and the policy of “Patriots of Russia” towards towards the regions and their leaders is too inconsistent for the party to claim serious results,” concludes Sergei Kocherov.

Ivan Sergeev

The parties loaded the trains