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Why the election of a communist did not excite the Kremlin by the mayor of Novosibirsk
The election of the communist Anatoly Lokotya mayor of Novosibirsk, the third largest in the city of the Russian Federation, the Kremlin perceived surprisingly calmly. Why would it? 
In the election of the mayor of Novosibirsk, April 6 Anatoly Lokot, the State Duma deputy from the Communist Party and the head of the Novosibirsk regional party committee, received 43.7% of the vote. Its main competitor - and. O. Mayor Vladimir Znatkov, supported by United Russia, is 39.5%. Observers did not record a single serious violation on polling stations, and a low turnout (32%) was expected. However, the fact that it will be already half as much as in the elections in 2009, it seems, no one expected.
The elbow won nine out of ten districts of Novosibirsk. For the Communist Party, these are the best indicators from the time of the Duma campaign of 2011, when United Russia failed in Novosibirsk, and in all areas of the city, gaining only 27.6%. But then - elections to the Duma. And the Communists have not put their candidate for the mayor of the city since the second half of the 90s, for which they often received reproaches in collusion with the authorities.
Collusion?
They began to talk about the loss of a candidate from the party in the Communist headquarters, using their own alternative vote counting system long before the closing of the plots. However, it was frankly difficult to believe in it. The administrative resource and grandiose agitation launched at full capacity, which fell on the city of multimillion -dollar circulations of leaflets and newspapers, showed that the power will go to the end. And even when the Forecasts of the Communist Party of the Communist Party began to coincide with the data of the Horizburkom, many did not exclude that EP would try to put pressure on the voting course. The tension remained almost until midnight.
The more amazing was the reaction to the victory of the elbow of its main competitors and the first persons of the state. The chief of staff of Knowledge and one of the iconic figures of EP, Alexander Karelin, said that "there was an open competition in the elections." The Siberian Presidential President Viktor Tolokonsky wished the chosen mayor of successful work and assured that the conflicts between the city and regional authorities, which have taken place in recent years, are from now “unlikely”. In turn, President Vladimir Putin instructed the regional administration to build relations with the new mayor-communist.
In a matter of hours, the key opponent of the party in power in the third largest city in Russia turned into a figure that arranges everyone. Analysts started talking about conspiracy: EP agrees to hold honest elections, and the Communist Party does not undermine the foundations of the vertical of power in the event of its victory.
The connections are noticed
“The figure of Lokotya is unambiguously controlled. A deputy who has been voting for years in the same way as United Russia, by definition, cannot be perceived as a serious political opponent of the Kremlin, ”the Novosibirsk analyst Yevgeny Ksenchuk told The New Times. According to him, Lokota has long -standing connections in Moscow, he is integrated into the vertical of power no less than the highest leadership of the Communist Party. “This is an absolute pragmatist, and it will proceed from absolutely specific interests that are not related to the ideological platform that is behind it,” says Ksenchuk. And he adds: “The elbow is now closer to Putin than many members of EP. He can become another guide for the ideas of restoration and return to everything Soviet in politics and public processes. Now this is the main trend: the state is again more important than man, all interests are subordinated to the geopolitical agenda, and the wise father of fraternal peoples at the head of the country. ”
It is noteworthy that the elbow does not hide his contacts with the Kremlin at all, but, on the contrary, advertises them. During the pre -election race, he, according to his own admission, repeatedly met with the First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Vyacheslav Volodin and discussed approaches to the city’s management. “Volodin recorded my predominant position in the election campaign - this is the assessment of Moscow,” the communist noted in February. And directly on the day of elections at Lokota headquarters, the assistant to Viktor Tolokonsky in domestic politics Viktor Ignatov was seen.
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“The elbow is closer to Putin than many members of EP. He can become another guide for the ideas of returning to everything Soviet "
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The support of the key bills of EP is talking about the support of his activity in the Duma sessions over the past three years. According to the State Duma website, he spoke out only against 5% of deputy initiatives, was among those who supported the “Law of Dima Yakovlev”, the law on the prohibition of propaganda of homosexuality among minors and the annexation of Crimea. At the same time, the elbow actively promoted the amnesty of the defendants in the “swamp business” and sought the abolition of last year’s reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences. As a result, the status of a loyalist and an unreliable label were simultaneously fixed after him.
“The elbow is not a carrier of values in the classical sense,” continues Evgeny Ksenchuk. - There are no individual social strata that support him, as there are no those whose interests he expresses. And if we take into account that he is a candidate of the opposition and the voices of all those who escaped from the race turned to him, then his identity raises even more questions. ”
"Red Terror" will not be
One of those who got off the election distance in favor of Lokota was another State Duma deputy from the Novosibirsk region - Ilya Ponomarev refuser. According to him, the consolidation of the opposition forces around Lokotya suggested the inclusion of representatives of various political parties in the new team, including the managers of United Russia. “The mayor must be in the dialogue with the authorities and all groups of influence. You can not build your political strategy only in conflict with the federal center, ”Ponomarev explained.
Serious disagreements with the City Council of Novosibirsk, where United Russia controls 32 out of 40 mandates, publicly denies the elbow. He also promised not to arrange Red Terror in the offices of the City Hall and not organize chandeliers on a party basis.
“The mayor is not a political figure. He can be party, but first of all he must manage the city and deal with economic issues: roads, housing and communal services, heating and so on, ”said Alexander Lyulko, deputy of the City Council, deputy of the City Council. According to him, the elbow understands this perfectly and "will try to prove himself as a responsible manager, and not a bright stand."
Another possible reason for the Kremlin’s calm attitude to the successes of the Novosibirsk opposition may be the upcoming reform of local self -government, which provides for the cancellation of the mayor’s elections in megacities and the early removal of the already elected. In addition, as experience shows, the vast majority of mayors who came to power not from “United Russia”, eventually either go into the party in power, or prematurely lure their powers, or are under the investigation.
Will not come out for buoys
The leader of the Novosibirsk branch of the supporters of Alexei Navalny “People’s Alliance” (now the “Party of Progress”) Andrei Gladchenko is convinced of the moderate political ambitions of Lokotya: “It is necessary to separate the federal center and“ United Russia ”. The farther, the lines do not intersect. The elbow can be in an open confrontation with EP, but at the same time it is quite to arrange the president and his environment, they can agree - and this is a fundamental moment. ”
According to Gladchenko, the elbow is a representative of the system opposition, he is predictable and understandable, he will not come out for buoys and no one will call on the barricades: “If he were uncontrolled, he would simply not have been allowed to the election race, not to mention the finish line.”
According to the official income declaration, last year the elbow earned about 2.5 million rubles. This means that, having won the mayor’s elections, he will lose in finances: in 2012, the head of Novosibirsk received 1.9 million rubles from the budget.
Having put forward Lokota to mayor, the regional committee of the Communist Party, it seems, used his main trump card, was left without a candidate in the upcoming elections of the Novosibirsk governor. In any case, it will be difficult for the Communists to find a strong opponent to possible participants in the race, deputy of the State Duma Karelin and President President Tolokonsky. However, the Novosibirsk Regional Committee of the Communist Party has not yet confirmed his intentions.
“The country is on the verge of global problems and tectonic shifts, the consequences of which are difficult to evaluate,” summarizes Evgeny Ksenchuk. -In such conditions, the election of the mayor-communist is not the most important news and not a signal to change the political course in one direction or another. The elbow will not affect anything.