Contrary to the statements of its candidate, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation will not support Alexander Shakhov

Today, the plenum of the Togliatti city committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation will consider the situation around the second round of elections for the mayor of the city, in which the “Decembrist” Sergei Andreev and the United Russia candidate Alexander Shakhov qualified. The Communists are not expected to support either candidate. Thus, the Communist Party actually disavows the actions of its ex-candidate for the post of mayor Andrei Serafimov, which observers regarded as a statement of support for Mr. Shakhov from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Political scientists note that support for the Communist Party could have some influence on the outcome of the elections, but it will mainly depend on which of the candidates manages to activate their “nuclear electorate.”

Today, the plenum of the city committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in Togliatti may decide that the party will not support any of the candidates in the second round of elections for the mayor of the city (held on March 18). Citizens will have to choose between the United Russia nominee, deputy head of the regional government's security department, Alexander Shakhov (36.49% of the votes in the first round) and the leader of the December public movement, Sergei Andreev (32.31% in the first round).

“We will not support any of the candidates in Togliatti,” communist Stepan Filatov, a deputy of the Samara Gubernia Duma, told Kommersant. — Alexander Shakhov is from United Russia, and Sergei Andreev was previously in Right Cause.

Already on March 5, some of the losing candidates spoke at a joint press conference with Mr. Shakhov. “We are Greenblat (Borislav Grinblat was a self-nominated candidate. - Kommersant), Serafimov (Andrei Serafimov was nominated from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, 10.67% of the votes - Kommersant) and Maryakhin (Mikhail Maryakhin was a candidate from A Just Russia. - " Kommersant) — made a proposal to Shakhov to create a coalition team at the mayor’s office and combine programs,” Borislav Grinblat said then. This move was perceived by observers as a statement of support for the United Russia candidate. The message about this event was replicated in many media, including at the instigation of Mr. Shakhov’s headquarters.

However, after this, the Communists began to deny information about the party’s support for Mr. Shakhov, claiming an allegedly incorrect interpretation of Mr. Serafimov’s actions. This, however, did not stop Alexander Shakhov from recently presenting to the media a “united election program”, allegedly written jointly with Messrs. Greenblat, Serafimov and Maryakhin. Commenting on this situation, Stepan Filatov said that the communists were “ready to cooperate” with both candidates, and Andrei Serafimov allegedly had to send his program to Sergei Andreev as well.

The Decembrists, however, stated that they did not receive this document. Alexander Dolgopolov, a representative of Sergei Andreev’s headquarters, noted: “We have always relied on the support of specific people, opinion leaders.” “We do not believe that the electorate is serfs who can be transferred by declaring support,” Mr. Dolgopolov said. “That’s why we never made a big bet on party structures.”

United Russia also reacted calmly to the possible decision of the communists. “These elections are not of a clear party nature,” says Alexander Fetisov, secretary of the Samara regional political council of the party. “It’s hard for me to say how many votes the Communists’ decision to support or not will bring to this or that candidate. In fact, Tolyatti residents are already divided by preferences. And I believe that Alexander Shakhov is more socially close to the communist electorate.” Also, according to Mr. Fetisov, Andrei Serafimov has already made a number of statements in support of Alexander Shakhov. “The decision, whatever it is, will be made by the communists only on Wednesday,” the United Russia member recalled.

Tolyatti City Duma deputy from the LDPR Alexander Gremin believes that yesterday’s decision of the Communist Party will not affect the voting results. “The fact that Serafimov supports Shakhov has already been reported in huge numbers. And in what circulation will it be reported that the Communist Party of the Russian Federation does not support anyone?” - the parliamentarian argues.

Political scientist Alexander Kynev believes that the outcome of the vote is “not predetermined.” “The first round took place simultaneously with the presidential elections, therefore, in the second round the turnout will be lower and the “nuclear” electorate will go. The real result will depend on its activation,” the expert believes. According to Mr. Kynev, in the first round, the candidate of United Russia, Alexander Shakhov, received some of the votes as a “bonus” due to the support of Vladimir Putin. “Therefore, the second round is problematic for Shakhov,” says the political scientist. “The position of the communists could be a weight in Shakhov’s favor, since their electorate is the most mobilized.” At the same time, Alexander Kynev noted that the support of the electorate of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation for the candidate from United Russia was initially “simply impossible.”

Maria Gutorova

United Russia will not receive the communist idea