The leadership of United Russia criticized the leadership of the Ulyanovsk branch of the party, accusing Governor Sergei Morozov of interfering in internal party affairs. The head of the region's powers expire in the spring

Governor of the Ulyanovsk region Sergei Morozov (Photo: RIA Novosti)

Fatal Mayor

On Friday, for three hours, the federal leadership of United Russia sorted out relations with its Ulyanovsk branch. First they did this at a meeting of the complaints commission, and then at the presidium of the general council.

A public conflict between the federal leadership of the party and its regional branch occurred over the candidacy of the mayor of Ulyanovsk. In October, local United Russia deputies (who have the majority of votes in the City Duma) decided not to re-approve Marina Bespalova as mayor.

According to RBC's source in the party, the decision was unexpected for Bespalova: on the eve of the meeting of the political council, the regional authorities discussed with her the issue of extending her powers and even asked her to prepare a technical candidate who would formally compete with her. But by morning the mood had changed, the source assures.

According to the deputy chairman of the regional legislative assembly, Igor Tikhonov, the regional political council did not promise anything to Moscow; only Bespalova herself made statements about her support from the general council. The decision on who to support when voting for the mayor’s candidacy was made at a regional conference, where about 150 delegates out of 180 voted against Bespalova, Tikhonov emphasizes.

The central leadership of the party decided to support the suspended Bespalova, both on the recommendation of Dmitry Medvedev, and by decision of the party leadership, she was appointed in early December as the head of the local public reception. Ulyanovsk United Russia members responded by expelling her from the party.

This became a “serious intra-elite conflict,” says RBC’s interlocutor in the party’s federal leadership. To resolve it, Secretary of the General Council Sergei Neverov flew to Ulyanovsk, and on Friday the Presidium of the General Council of the Party, the highest (after the council) governing party body, was convened in Moscow.

According to a senior United Russia member, authorities in the Ulyanovsk region tried to participate in a meeting of the complaint review commission on Friday. Vice-Governor Olga Nikitenko arrived at the party headquarters. But she was not allowed to attend the meeting.

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An interlocutor in the party leadership calls Nikitenko’s desire to attend a headquarters meeting “an attempt to directly pressure the governor of the Ulyanovsk region Morozov on the presidium of the party’s general council.” This, according to him, confirms the suspicions of federal United Russia members that it was Morozov who asked the local branch to remove Bespalova from all posts. Nikitenko told RBC that she did not at all strive to get to the meeting and, moreover, did not try to exert any pressure. “If there was pressure, I would come to the meeting of the Presidium of the General Council. And I had other tasks as part of my work trip,” she claims. Tikhonov claims that Morozov did not express his opinion regarding Bespalova’s candidacy to United Russia.

You can no longer roll it into asphalt

As a result, United Russia members spent the entire Friday discussing the details of Bespalova’s expulsion from the party with the secretary of the local branch of United Russia, Kornev. Kornev gave arguments in favor of ridding the party of Bespalova: during the election campaign for the city duma (elections took place in the fall), she put pressure on her opponents, and it was for this that she was expelled.

The head of the complaint review commission, Sergei Popov, questioned Kornev and concluded that all complaints against Bespalova were prepared in December. At the same time, no complaints were received during the election campaign; they all appeared only at the moment when it became objectionable, Neverov concluded. “If there were any doubts before, now everything has become clear,” Popov was indignant. United Russia members hinted at the version that was actively discussed in Moscow that the entire conflict was a consequence of the personal hostility of Governor Morozov. Tikhonov admits that, indeed, complaints had been piling up before, but before that, local United Russia members did not want to wash dirty linen in public and did not report their suspicions to Moscow.

At a meeting of the Presidium of the General Council, the party leadership continued its criticism. The loudest denunciations of the head of the Duma Security Committee, Irina Yarovaya, sounded. At first, she was surprised to note that the members of the regional branch unanimously voted to expel Bespalova. “It turns out that everyone is dependent?” she asked. “The totality of the facts indicates that you have declared war on women. If you are a secretary, you are responsible,” she addressed the secretary. — The traditions of the CPSU that you follow are unacceptable for our party. In those days it was possible to get together and roll anyone into the asphalt. Times are different and we are different.” Deputy Secretary of the General Council Andrei Isaev also said that the actions of the Ulyanovsk United Russia members discredited the entire United Russia.

Neverov generally criticized the work of the Ulyanovsk United Russia members. He reported that during a speech by a communist at one of the meetings of the regional legislative assembly, the following sounded from the speakers: “And Lenin is so young,” and the leadership of the faction rejoiced at such rudeness. The head of the budget committee, Andrei Makarov, called the actions of the Ulyanovsk comrades “bullying” and advocated the expulsion of Kornev from the party.

First, the commission recommended that Bespalov be reinstated in the party, and then the presidium of the General Council issued a warning to the secretary of the Ulyanovsk branch, Viktor Kornev.

“We do not discuss the decision of the Presidium of the General Council,” says Nikitenko. “We’ve restored it, which means we’ll work with it.” We hope that she will remember that she needs to make contact with people.” Tikhonov says that working together with Bespalova after such a scandal will not be easy.

Towards the elections

The conflict around Bespalova became a discussion in absentia between Moscow and the leadership of the Ulyanovsk region. The leadership of the RBC party assured on Friday that they regard the insistence of the Ulyanovsk United Russia members on the Bespalova issue as pressure from the head of the region on the presidium of the General Council. In Moscow, he is suspected of participating in the conflict against Bespalova, says RBC’s interlocutor.

Bespalova repeatedly told members of the Ulyanovsk branch that she had support at the federal level, and this is what caused discontent in the region, the secretary of the regional branch of the party, Kornev, said at a meeting on Friday. In his opinion, it was Bespalova who, through her statements and actions, created an intra-elite conflict in the region.

RBC's interlocutor in the party's federal leadership believes that the cause of the conflict is Bespalova's high popularity, which irritates regional authorities. At the last elections to the City Duma, the mayor won 70% in her district, and United Russia (the list was headed by the governor) got 61% in the same district, United Russia notes. Tikhonov doubts Bespalova’s super-popularity in the region: according to him, she was elected in a single-mandate constituency of 15 thousand people and had support only in it.

According to him, such a sharp reaction from the federal center to an ordinary story with the mayor “is associated with the new political season, when any mistake by the regional office can cost the region dearly.”

We are talking not only about the upcoming elections to the State Duma, but also about the upcoming gubernatorial elections. Sergei Morozov's powers as governor end in March 2016; he has held this position since 2005.

The Civil Society Development Foundation, which is close to the Kremlin, is consistently lowering its position in its performance ratings. Now he occupies one of the bottom lines - located in 75-76th place. In the fall, he lost 10 points due to interference in party affairs (as the authors explained), and in December three more due to audits by the Accounts Chamber. Because of these assessments, RBC interlocutors close to the Kremlin previously said that it would be difficult for Morozov to be re-elected.

Morozov himself has already announced that he intends to take part in the elections in 2016. “I officially declare that I will go to the polls,” he told reporters in early November, explaining that he received a positive assessment of his work at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin on October 30.

With the participation of Elizaveta Surnacheva

United Russia members of Moscow criticized the governor running for election