United Russia member Andrei Vorobyov will remain as governor of the Moscow region, according to experts, even after the elections in 2013. On Thursday, Vladimir Putin invited the head of the Duma faction to become the acting head of the region. Political scientist Dmitry Oreshkin commented on the situation to presenter Roman Karlov.

— Why did the president propose Andrei Vorobyov for this post?

— It’s hard to say why, why. But, it seems to me, this is obvious evidence that some very serious changes and upheavals are taking place up there. After all, Shoigu was removed; it would be more logical to put in his place someone whom Shoigu trained and installed, and created a special structure. No, they appoint another person, and not the last one in the party structure. This means that something will have to change in the party.

In general, it’s a big risk, because Mr. Vorobyov does not have a great chance of winning the elections. Maybe he thinks so, but looking from the outside, it is clear that there is a year left before the elections. He did not mark his creative path with any exploits, like Shoigu; he was always a party functionary, and not some kind of rescuer, creator, manager, and so on. Moreover, he was the manager of the party, which in its abbreviated form is called PZhiV; over the course of the year, its brand will most likely be promoted rather than reduced. And with what joy the residents of the Moscow region, who are quite aggressive in their electoral behavior, will vote for him is not entirely clear to me.

The man has a serious challenge, he will have to work very hard to get re-elected. Why is all this being started, if everything is fine there, I don’t understand. Apparently, all is not well there after all.

— You are perhaps the first political scientist who doubts that Vorobiev will remain in charge of the region after the elections. Maybe that’s why they put him in now, so that he could somehow prove himself and secure victory for himself?

“It is clear that if he is installed a month before the elections, it will be very difficult for him to form his image. He is not a business executive, he is a party functionary. Of course, he will need to receive a lot of money this year, distribute it very correctly, so that both local bosses and, in a sense, the population, on whom something also depends after all, are satisfied. But why this whole thing is being started is unclear to me. Because Shoigu’s deputy is a man who had good chances, after all, he has a reflection of the light of the popular Shoigu. And here, apparently, there are some internal considerations.

Although it is clear that the elder Vorobyov, the father of the current Vorobyov, he worked with Shoigu. This means, accordingly, there are connections here too, all this did not form out of nowhere. But it’s all very sketchy, so raw, ill-thought out, and this means, it seems to me, that they were nervous about something.

— Do you think Vorobiev will begin to really lead the region, or is his task elsewhere now?

“It’s impossible to really start leading the region earlier than in a year.” Because we need to build a team, we need to determine priorities. Vorobyov will have another task - to create a favorable image for himself in six months or a year. He will conduct a nine-month election campaign. This is his main task now, as I understand it.

“Vorobiev will for now create a favorable image for himself, and not lead the region”