How ordinary United Russia members fight corruption

Members of United Russia in the Abansky district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory said they were ready to leave the party if the head of the district, Mikhail Krivitsky, was not removed from his post. Such an appeal to Dmitry Medvedev as the leader of United Russia was published on the Open Letter website on behalf of supposedly 60 United Russia members of the Abansky region. They accused United Russia member Mikhail Krivitsky, who has headed the Abansky district for 13 years, of corruption and imitation of party work in the district. The letter, in particular, says that there is no longer any strength to tolerate a “thief and opportunist” at the head of the district.

The central leadership of United Russia denied information about the United Russia group leaving the party, but nevertheless sent a commission to clarify the situation. The leader of the Krasnoyarsk branch of the party supported the position of the Moscow comrades and called the information provocative. PublicPost got to the bottom of the confusing story.

As one of the United Russia deputies of the Abansky district told PublicPost on condition of anonymity, “the letter is real, but no one left the party, it’s rather a gesture of despair, people want to draw attention to what Krivitsky is doing in the district. All his activities are like leader contradicts the principles declared by the party."

This information was confirmed to PublicPost by another deputy of the Abansky District Council from United Russia, Anatoly Anpilogov. “I did not leave the party, but I know this information. As far as I know, the deputies did not sign this appeal, but ordinary party members did. The fact remains. People believe that the person holding the post of head of the district does not correspond to the status in which they are now is the first question, and the second is that people can only leave the party individually.”

The letter was published on behalf of Andrei Turinov, the former director of the club in the village of Novouspenskoye. The press service of the Krasnoyarsk branch of United Russia confirmed that they have such a party member: “Yes, he is a member of the party, now he is a deputy of the Novouspensky village council.” In addition, the press service of PublicPost reported that there really is a conflict between United Russia members and the head of the district.

“Now our commission has already gone to the Abansky district, but the fact is that this is not the first time there are problems there, we have already held meetings there, more than once. There is a conflict there between a small group of United Russia deputies and the head of the district. The deputies do not go at a council session, work is disrupted, and the district is left without the opportunity to make prompt decisions on problems,” the press service said.

A district council deputy from United Russia, on condition of anonymity, confirmed that council sessions are deliberately disrupted: “This is the only possible form of protest against Krivitsky’s policies, this year we blocked the work of the council twice. This month we had a vote on Krivitsky’s candidacy, almost everyone the deputies voted for resignation. Of the 30, 20 deputies voted for Krivitsky’s resignation.” However, the resignation did not take place, since in 2010 the district charter for the election of the head of the Abansky district was changed (as the deputy claims, it was Krivitsky who changed it). According to the new version of the charter, the head of the district is elected by the district council from among the deputies elected to the council, but deputies cannot recall him from his post. This right, according to the charter, belongs only to voters who voted for the deputy.

This is not the first time that residents of the Abansky district have complained about Mikhail Krivitsky. A letter against Krivitsky, which was signed by 600 people, was submitted to the Governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Lev Kuznetsov in November 2012. In it, residents expressed their distrust of Krivitsky as the head of the district.

PublicPost at Krivitsky’s reception desk responded that they are aware of the United Russia statement, signed by Andrei Turinov, with accusations against Krivitsky, but so far Mikhail Krivitsky has not given any official comments.

Valery Semyonov, secretary of the Krasnoyarsk regional branch of the United Russia party:

“Indeed, such information appeared on one of the information sites, but I cannot call it anything other than provocative. Firstly, it was written without knowledge of the party specifics: according to our charter, we do not have such a form as a collective statement of resignation from the party. -secondly, no statements were received from members of the Aban party organization either to the local, or to the primary, or to the regional branches, I emphasize, neither personal nor collective. And thirdly, there is not a single signature under the letter published on the website. Who wrote, which party members? There is not a single name. Therefore, it is simply impossible to call this information a letter or appeal...

As for the facts stated in the letter, they are not confirmed by law enforcement agencies. And sweeping accusations are unacceptable here. There is a certain conflict between a group of deputies and the head of the district. And here we, as a party, advocate that all activities of local governments should be aimed at the development of the territory and for the benefit of the population."