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How Lev Shlosberg was expelled from the Pskov Regional Duma

You can’t just ignore Russian cosmodromes, Pskov parliamentarians decided and delightedly deprived oppositionist Lev Shlosberg of his deputy’s mandate.

Oh, it was a nice hunt. Who hunted whom, who is the predator and who the prey, who is smart and who is a fool - it doesn’t matter at all, especially since everyone knows who is smart and who is a fool.

Throughout the 44-odd months that Lev Shlosberg worked in the Pskov parliament, his colleagues resentfully blamed the Yabloko leader for considering himself smart and others - fools. What fool, pardon the tautology, would tolerate this? Of course, the “Kashin case” and the possible involvement of the governor of the Pskov region Andrei Turchak in the beating of the journalist is a serious, offensive thing, and it accelerated the process of rejecting the democrat. But the most important thing is that feeling when Schlosberg looks at you like it’s unclear what.

Being a fool under the governor is one thing, an honorable thing, but not under Schlosberg, really?

Darling Milonov In general, these (and previous) attempts of the Pskov deputies, supported and encouraged by the officials of Turchak’s team, were dedicated to the elimination of this “intellectual tubercle”. Now no one stands out, no one sticks out - even if it’s against the fur, it’s smooth.

Expelling one of the most famous oppositionists in Russia from the regional parliament right in the midst of the Turchak scandal is, of course, politically very smart; this, it must be said, suggests why Lev Shlosberg thinks about his colleagues this way, and not that way, if he thinks about his colleagues at all. thinks them. However, the prosecutor’s office of the Pskov region quietly “merged” on the eve of the session, placing the entire initiative to uproot Shlosberg into the hands of deputies. They didn't refuse. Not for the first time.

Tickets for the session of the Pskov regional assembly should have been sold long ago - they would have gone like hotcakes, and then officials could easily report that they were depriving Schlosberg of his mandate in order to replenish the poor and leaky regional budget. But no tickets were sold; only a few dozen media representatives arrived as spectators.

This was the main problem for parliamentarians - several dozen media representatives. And here the question was like, in which hand should you hold the knife - right or left? Is it better to remain silent and pass for smart (as the entire A Just Russia faction did, although I’m not sure that the goal of “passing for smart” was achieved) or to cut off the smart guy Shlosberg like Shukshin?

The deputies decided not to worry about which hand to hold the knife in, and began to eat with their hands.

This was the day when Vitaly Milonov’s reputation, to put it mildly, began to shake. Milonov, you say? Yes, we have plenty of our own milons. There's a fat one, there's a big-nosed one, there's a gray-haired one, there's another gray-haired one, there's a bald one - the talking epithets in Pskov stick not only to the governor.

And the Yenisei was blocked . Shlosberg gradually lost allies in the Assembly. One was blown away in Crimea and Donbass, another was overwhelmed by their own importance, a third was out of fear, most of the rest arrived in parliament with the factory settings of “anti-schlossberg”.

As a result, there were practically no allies left. Even colleagues and journalists loyal to the democrat usually reproach Lev Markovich for this. They say, how can you consider yourself smart, but everyone else... Well, you understand. As the hero of current history, United Russia member, actor and executioner Alexey Sevastyanov said two years ago, “Lev Shlosberg cannot understand that 42 deputies of different political views cannot be mistaken.” Like this. They can’t, and that’s it.

Director Dmitry Meskhiev knew exactly who to cast as the executioner in the film based on the script of the famous Russian minister of the second half of the 19th century, Vladimir Medinsky.

On September 24, the day of the (temporary?) loss of his deputy mandate, Lev Shlosberg again began to act vilely - to speak beautifully, intelligently, without hesitation, clichés and inappropriateness. “The Regional Assembly faces a challenge. A precedent may be created when deputies whose opinions differ from those of officials will be expelled from parliament. I ask you to vote according to your conscience and according to the law,” Schlosberg said.

Immediately the communists called themselves democrats - well, like democrats: just like real communists can be democrats. “We discussed and made a unanimous and even democratic decision: not to bind ourselves by party shackles and to vote the way everyone thinks is right,” declared Communist Party member Alexander Rogov, who usually likes to grumble, but not today.

“I read that this is practically a shame for the Pskov regional assembly. Our colleague is a lover of labeling,” the leader of the LDPR faction, Sergei Makarchenko, slapped Schlosberg (for his fierce opposition, he recently grabbed the post of director of the regional capital repair fund, not like Kashin). “It’s a shame for me when they tell non-existent information about the losses of the 76th Pskov Division!” I repeat - non-existent information!”

It seems that Makarchenko was hinting that the death of the Pskov paratroopers is non-existent information. Yes, I think that's exactly what he said.

“I studied an interview with our, God forgive me, colleague, in which he admits a violation, and this violation is conscious... And there is no need to talk about conscience, I live well with my conscience!” - Makarchenko shouted into the microphone with hatred and delight at his own eloquence, telling non-existent information about his conscience.

The humor of the “Zhirinovite,” however, began to fall along with the leaves by the fall: in the summer, when the transfer of business trips of officials from compartments to reserved seats was being considered, Makarchenko said that after such trips “together with demobilization, you will have to pay for maternity leave,” which will take much more money , how you can save on tickets. How I cut it.

Well, the actor-executioner Sevastyanov reminded his colleagues that he had already denounced Schlosberg once, when Dmitry Kiselev himself spoke about him on “Russia-1”. Lev Shlosberg's speech traditionally did not inspire Sevastyanov. “After that I became even more proud of our fatherland, of our history. We make mistakes when we admit mistakes somewhere. We had victories, but no defeats along the way! As they say, “You can’t understand Russia with your mind, you can only believe in Russia,” Sevastyanov presented a brief summary of Tyutchev. “I can tell you directly and openly: for me you are not a political unit or a party block. For me you are just a mouthpiece..."

Sevastyanov made a theatrical pause. Like an executioner on the swing. “State Department?!” — were my colleagues and I whispering?

“...The State Department on the territory of the Pskov region,” Sevastyanov exhaled.

“He prepares his speech so skillfully, so tragically,” added another Shlosberg lover, the son of Putin’s friend, the head of Velikiye Luki, Alexander Kozlovsky. Not so long ago he said that for his words, the Yabloko man could get hit in the face with rebar, like a herring. - You are always unhappy, you tried to collect all the negativity - well, that’s what you did all your free time and working time. And we, we survived the Olympics, we built a lot, built spaceports, but you don’t notice it! A pig farm opens - you collect negativity. You are bringing harm, not benefit!

Another United Russia member, Viktor Antonov, a former State Duma deputy, and now the first vice-speaker of the Pskov parliament (the position was invented because this Antonov is a very “respected person”, this is exactly the term in the regional Assembly - “respected person”) reproached Shlosberg for "connections with the State Department." “As a State Duma deputy, you have had the experience of a lot of trips abroad, and, probably, you have not refused any of them. I don’t think you should ask such questions with such experience. “I’m ashamed of you,” Schlosberg responded sadly. “You will also ask how you will sleep with this,” Viktor Antonov snapped angrily.

“Well, look, the man is cramped, he wants to represent his organizations in court, let’s give him freedom, let’s give Dobby a sock!” - Liberal Democrat Makarchenko was delighted with the new joke.

We are not lawless, he himself came to the microphone, another intellectual irregularity named Dmitry Gudkov came to the microphone: he came to support Schlosberg and, as Gudkov himself put it, “the remnants of Russian parliamentarism.” “I get the impression of political deja vu when Gennady Gudkov was illegally expelled from the State Duma. Made-up accusations, a wonderfully staged performance, reading all the accusations from a piece of paper. There is an obvious trial, political revenge, extrajudicial reprisal against one of the brightest, most decent deputies not only of the Pskov region, but of all of Russia,” Gudkov expressed himself too diplomatically, as if in a different language.

Neither he nor the other guests fully understood that in Pskov they speak their own dialect of Russian - “from plow-patriotic”.

And Gudkov also decided to scare the not very cheerful deputies with Gaiser. “What, you think Gaiser didn’t pass the loyalty test?” - he hinted and called the claims of Pskov deputies to Shlosberg far-fetched and illegal.

They tried to ask the State Duma deputy questions. “Well, you see that they answer us without looking at the law! - one of the main antagonists of Yabloko, Speaker of Parliament Alexander Kotov, seethed. “Today our guests are trying to say in front of the cameras that the Pskov Regional Assembly acts outside the framework of the law, which is not true. We have a law on the status of a deputy, which provides for liability for violations of both regional and federal legislation. We are not lawless people, as Deputy Gudkov says, but we act within the legal framework!”

By the way, Governor Andrei Turchak was not in the hall.

St. Petersburg Zaks deputy Boris Vishnevsky was also not pompous in the Pskov way: “You will be judged in the future by what decision you make today regarding Schlosberg!” - he proclaimed, causing laughter in the camp of the United Russia faction.

Somehow, not so long ago, deputies canceled their own decision on the height of the building, because the investor put the house 2.5 times higher than possible and relied on the opinion of the deputies. And if the deputies of the Pskov parliament vote incorrectly, then during the break they realize that their equipment has failed, after which they vote correctly.

So, with a completely justified laugh, Alexey Sevastyanov, who traditionally gives the last word, even if someone coughed out of turn, again accused Schlosberg of “jumping over graves” and photographing the burial places of paratroopers. What relation this had to the violations that (either due to lawlessness or not) were imposed on Schlosberg was not very clear, but he honestly admitted: “I can’t help but say this.”

“Everything that was published about the death of Russian citizens was done at the request of military personnel and their relatives,” Lev Shlosberg turned gray. “You, a public person, should be ashamed, because tens of thousands of people know the truth.” Think about it, there are relatives, mothers who know the whole truth, we still communicate with some of them!”

This was, of course, too much, because on this day Mr. Sevastyanov (as he reported earlier) became even more proud of our fatherland. “I also know everything, but I can say: you have stepped over the sacred. And these mothers are not grateful to you. Remember this and don’t pretend to be a truth-teller. Your heart doesn’t beat in time with the people of the city.”

No, complaints about a heart that beats “out of sync with the residents of the city” (although not with the “best residents of the city”) are, of course, strong, but most of all the journalists were struck by the moment of agreement with the fact that “these mothers” exist in Pskov .

But neither Sevastyanov nor Makarchenko understood the poignancy of the situation.

At the end, the chairman of the Yabloko party, Sergei Mitrokhin, tried to take the floor. “You are not a State Duma deputy, so I will not give you the floor!” — Alexander Kotov refused him permission to speak.

* * *

And then there was a vote, secret. 41 out of 44 deputies sent Schlosberg away from the “combat.” What was better: to endure until the end of the year or to break it off like this, in one day, so that the year without Schlosberg would be remembered even more than the year with Schlosberg? Who knows, but if regional officials wanted to make a star out of the Pskov “Yabloko” leader, and present their boss as the customer of yet another political massacre (thank God, now bloodless), then it was an undoubted success.

Together with Lev Shlosberg, who left the hall, at least 2/3 of those gathered left the hall, which gave Sergei Makarchenko the opportunity to reproach the federal media for allegedly not being interested in the life of the province, only politics and PR. Strange, but the local media almost completely left too.

Photo: twitter.com/Kaurus7