Most of the meeting participants agreed that an intra-party conflict had occurred in the LDPR / A. Gordeev / Vedomosti

The State Duma Committee on Local Government, which convened on Friday for a special session at the request of the chamber's leadership, found no evidence of pressure on LDPR candidates who withdrew from the elections in the Ruzsky District of the Moscow Region. On Wednesday, LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky sharply criticized the Moscow Region authorities, promising to "shoot and hang" deputies who cover up violations, after which he left the plenary session along with the entire faction.

At a committee meeting attended by representatives of the Central Election Commission, the prosecutor's office and local authorities, the Liberal Democrats proposed conducting an additional investigation: the committee chairman, Alexei Didenko (LDPR), stated that although it was not yet possible to establish the fact of pressure, there was reason to believe that it had occurred. But United Russia came to the conclusion that the scandal was a consequence of an internal conflict within the LDPR, since none of the former candidates present at the meeting reported pressure. "Zhirinovsky simply does not know how to apologize, so this format of attempting to justify himself was chosen," a source in the Central Election Commission believes.

Most of the participants in the meeting agreed that this was an intra-party conflict, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Sergei Neverov told journalists. The local and regional branches of the LDPR, without coordinating the lists, put forward candidates who did not suit everyone, and the exclusion of candidates who withdrew from the list led to the removal of the list of "one of the oldest parties" from the elections as a whole, the United Russia member explained: "At the same time, it was noted today that it may be necessary to improve the legislation. This is the right of any party, any State Duma deputy, we are ready to consider initiatives." Nikolai Levichev, a member of the Central Election Commission from "A Just Russia" who was invited to the committee, also said that he did not see grounds for an investigation: "It seems to me that this is not the subject of a meeting of this format."

The goal is to make political life interesting, says political scientist Fyodor Krasheninnikov. There should be "scandals, intrigues, investigations" - but within the margin of error, he believes. In this sense, the inflated story around Zhirinovsky's routine shouts may be part of a general policy of whipping up interest in legal actors, the expert believes: "It seems like Zhirinovsky is still a hot commodity, and the State Duma is not a decoration, and everything is very turbulent, an imitation of legitimacy."

LDPR is asked to blame itself