The Omsk branch of the “People's Front “For Russia!”” was headed by three co-chairs

The founding conference of the regional branch of the all-Russian public movement “People's Front “For Russia!”” (PF) was held in Omsk. The local branch of the NF will be led by three non-partisans: the president of the regional chamber of commerce and industry Tatyana Khoroshavina, the chief physician of the regional clinical hospital Vyacheslav Ralko and the head of the Omsk cadet corps Nikolai Kravchenko. Experts believe that the co-chairs will not be able to take the regional office to a new level.

The founding conference of the Omsk branch of the NF took place yesterday at the regional exhibition center. The main issues on the agenda were the creation of a branch of the Popular Front “For Russia!”, the formation of a regional headquarters and the election of co-chairs. The conference was attended by the first vice-governor of the Omsk region, Yuri Hamburg, and the leader of Omsk United Russia, Alexander Artemov.

The creation of branches in the regions and the election of new leaders was required by the transformation of the All-Russian Popular Front (ONF) into the “People's Front “For Russia!”” by the founding congress of the movement in June of this year. The ONF, we recall, arose before the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation in 2011 as a coalition of socio-political organizations. The creation of a new social movement on the basis of the ONF presupposes only individual participation.

Yesterday's conference in Omsk was opened by Andrei Vetluzhskikh, a member of the NF central headquarters. He emphasized that the goal of the social movement is “to form a broad and high-quality consensus.” After this, the delegates voted on the charter and the creation of a new chapter. 72 people were elected founders of the regional NF, and 30 delegates were included in the regional headquarters: social activists, deputies, businessmen.

The regional headquarters then retired to elect three NF chapter co-chairs. The most likely contender for this post - the head of the ONF organizing committee in Omsk, deputy of the regional legislative assembly from the United Russia party Sergei Golovachev - on the eve of the official nomination procedure voluntarily refused to participate in the elections. “I intend to focus on developing my own business (Sergei Golovachev heads Agrocomplex Udarny LLC - Kommersant) and parliamentary work. However, I will also take an active part in the activities of the Popular Front as an active member of the movement,” explained Mr. Golovachev.

The co-chairs of the regional branch of the NF were the President of the Omsk Chamber of Commerce and Industry Tatyana Khoroshavina, the deputy chief physician of the regional clinical hospital, Vladimir Putin's confidant in the last presidential elections of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Ralko and the head of the Omsk Cadet Corps Nikolai Kravchenko. The day before, at the suggestion of the chairman of the Omsk branch of Business Russia, Ivan Polyakov, Ms. Khoroshavina was nominated by the regional coordinating council of business entrepreneurial associations of the Omsk region. It is unknown who nominated Messrs. Kravchenko and Ralko. Vyacheslav Ralko was a member of the regional coordination council of the Omsk Regional ONF, Nikolai Kravchenko was a non-party member.

After the conference, Tatyana Khoroshavina stated that all co-chairs will be equal. “After all, everyone oversees a separate area: medicine, the army and entrepreneurship,” she said.

Experts believe that the conference of the Omsk NF demonstrated the political incapacity of United Russia. “The very fact of electing co-chairs is not good for the organization, which must make up for the crisis in United Russia. Khoroshavina and Kravchenko are played cards. These are people who have not proven themselves either as organizers or as authoritative leaders who could consolidate and lead. The result of the activities of this organization will be the same as its leaders,” says Alexander Kravets, first secretary of the Omsk regional committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

The organization will receive official documents on state registration of the regional branch of the NF in a month.

Anastasia Mitkovskaya, Omsk

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