To defeat a “smart vote”, the Kremlin wants to send TV presenters to the State Duma

The Moscow City Hall proposed actors, but in the presidential administration they are considered “creative” and “unpredictable”

The Moscow City Hall and the Presidential Administration dispersed in the views of who should represent the capital in the upcoming elections to the State Duma - and be popular enough to conquer the votes from the candidates who will support the “smart vote” of Alexei Navalny. As Medusa found out, the city authorities wanted to bet on “creative people”: directed by Alexei Teacher, actors Dmitry Pevtsov and Vladimir Mashkov (as well as to the former director of Gorky Park Sergey Kapkov). The Kremlin did not satisfy such a selection of candidates: TV presenters, journalists and pro -government social activists are considered good candidates there. It seems that the Kremlin’s position wins - in particular, TV presenters Timofey Bazhenov and Evgeny Popov will go to the State Duma from the single -mandate districts of Moscow, the sources of Medusa say.

There will be several TV presenters candidates in the State Duma in single-mandate districts of Moscow: the author and host of several programs about animals and travels Timofei Bazhenov (200th district in Medvedkov), co-host of the current “60 seconds” channel Evgeny Popov (197th District, Kuntsevo) and Peter Tolstoy, the current deputy of the State Duma and the State Duma and the State Duma and the State Duma Unicorn (199th District, Lublino).

Medusa was told about this by several sources close to the presidential administration, the leadership of the United Russia party, and confirmed the interlocutor at the Moscow City Hall. Earlier, RBC wrote about the nomination of Evgeny Popov.

Timofei Bazhenov has often begun to mention municipal publications and the media of the prefectures , as well as pro -government publics - in the jargon of political strategists this is called “highlighting”. Basically, they talk about the “Ecological Movement of Timofei Bazhenov” created this year and propose to join it. “Nobody led to me [about the elections to the State Duma], but I don’t exclude anything for myself,” Bazhenov himself told Medusa.

Sources of Medusa say that earlier in the district, from which Bazhenov could advance, was supposed to be advanced by actor Dmitry Pevtsov. And in the Central District, the city administration considered the candidacy of the former director of Gorky Park Sergey Kapkov.

In addition, the sources of Medusa say, as possible candidates in the State Duma from the capital at the City Hall, were considered by actor Vladimir Mashkov and director Alexei Teacher. The fact that Dmitry Pevtsov and Sergey Kapkov could run for deputies, also wrote Kommersant.

“The nomination of actors and teachers blocked the presidential administration: they say, these are creative, unpredictable people, you never know what can be expected from them,” says the source of Medusa at the Moscow City Hall.

Sergei Kapkov assured Medusa that he was not planning to be elected to the State Duma - "neither according to the lists or in single -mandate districts." Alexey Teacher told Medusa that he “knew nothing” about such ideas. Vladimir Mashkov did not respond to the questions of Medusa.

And Dmitry Pevtsov answered the question of the “Medusa” about the possible nomination to the State Duma: “I am a busy person, I have not every three months a free day called a day off. But if such a fantastic thought visits me as a person who has reached the age of majority, then I will announce it directly and openly. Everyone will find out about this if this happens. ”

According to one of the interlocutors of the Medusa, close to the presidential administration, in the domestic political bloc of the Kremlin they would like to see as many public figures as possible in the State Duma, but not actors and not athletes (United Russia more than once stated that they did not intend to nominate such candidates).

The public figures that like the AP include TV presenters of federal channels, which most often discuss foreign policy, but almost do not concern domestic problems. “These are figures familiar to everyone, but they do not touch internal problems, [they say that] is bad in America, it’s bad in Europe,” explains a source close to AP.

Another interlocutor close to the AP clarifies that the Presidential Administration considered the experience of nominating TV presenters in the 2019 Moscow City Duma - he claims that then the presenters went to candidates on the recommendation of AP. In the elections in 2019, TV presenters Roman Babayan, Maria Kiseleva, Natalya Metlina, as well as the VGTRK manager Andrei Medvedev won the elections in their districts. Only the editor -in -chief of the My Planet television channel Nikolai Tabashnikov lost his district.

The authorities take into account that in the elections to the Moscow City Duma in 2019, in 20 of the 45 single -mandate districts of the capital, candidates won, supported by the “smart vote” of the headquarters of Alexei Navalny.

“At one of the events [the head of the AP Office for the State Council, which oversees elections in the Kremlin], Alexander Kharichev very favorably spoke about the participation of TV presenters in the elections to the Moscow City Duma as a positive experience that can and should be replicated,” the source of Medusa says.

The “public persons” in the State Duma in the AP are considered not only the actual TV presenters, but also the participants in political talk shows. For example, in Novokuznetsk, with the support of the authorities, a regular participant in such a show, close to the Kremlin, political scientist Oleg Matveychev will be advised .

Among the candidates for the State Duma, who will be supported by the City Hall, the sources of Medusa are also called the general director of the Pharmacy Pharmacy network Evgeny Nifantiev and the member of the All -Russian Popular Front, the executive director of the Housing and Public Utilities Control Center Svetlana Pravorotnev. Nifantiev already participated in the elections to the Moscow City Duma in 2019, but lost his district. Pravorotneva previously won the organized AP competition "Leaders of Russia. Politics ”, as well as Nifantiev (it is assumed that some of its participants will become candidates for the State Duma).

“So far I have not received proposals, I did not make decisions, but as a prominent social activist and winner of the“ Leaders of Russia ”contest, I will be glad if any party pays attention to me,” said Medusa Pravorotneva. Evgeny Nifantiev said “Medusa” that “does not exclude the possibility of” his nomination to the State Duma.

Earlier, Kommersant wrote that in the first three of the United Russia list, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, the Vice Speaker of the State Duma, Peter Tolstoy (who will also nominate in a single-mandate district) and the head physician of the hospital No. 52, Maryan Lysenko , who, in the summer of 2020, received the title of Hero of Labor for the struggle with the war doctor, will also enter the State Duma. coronavirus.

The interlocutor of Medusa at the Moscow City Hall said that the finally most of the list of candidates from the authorities (will go from United Russia and its nominees in single -mandate districts) will be formed in early March. The interlocutor close to the leadership of United Russia believes that the candidates will be finally determined, rather, by mid -March: “The city hall and the AP have differences in approaches, these contradictions are not smoothed out so soon.”

The candidacy of Denis Protsenko, the chief physician of the city clinical hospital No. 40, was considered acceptable for both the Moscow authorities and for the Kremlin - Kommunarka, which became famous during the coronavirus epidemic. In the spring of 2020, Protsenko was one of the main speakers of federal channels in the programs about Covid, and in the summer also received the title of the hero of labor.

It was assumed that Protsenko would become the second or third number of the United Russia Party in Moscow; This is confirmed by the interlocutor of Medusa in the city hall and a source close to the leadership of United Russia. But they disagree about the future percent as a candidate for the State Duma.

The interlocutor of Medusa at the City Hall says that the city administration itself refused to nominate Protsenko - because he "did not actively campaign for amendments to the Constitution." A source of Medusa close to the leadership of EP said that negotiations with Protsenko were ongoing: "He is broken for nomination." This interlocutor of Medusa claims that Protsenko himself does not want to participate in the elections, because "this step would not be understood by many of his colleagues in the medical community."

Denis Protsenko did not answer the calls of Medusa correspondents and the questions sent to him in messengers (although he read them). Political scientist and political strategist Konstantin Kalachev wrote on Facebook that Denis Protsenko could move to the State Duma as a single-mandate-from the 210th district (Chertanovo).

Protsenko himself in the comments under the post of politics of Roman Yuneman, who intends to run for this district, refuted his nomination, although quite evasive. He hung a link to the video from the film "Dog Heart", where Professor Preobrazhensky says the phrase "Do not read Soviet newspapers."

Authors: Andrey Pertsev and Svetlana Reuters with the participation

Editor: Valery Igumenov