About three months are left before the elections to the Duma and a little more than six months to go before the presidential elections. And if, during the presidential campaign, the intrigue is to be perpetrated by the duo, the upcoming elections in the Duma are solved in the regions. In late July, preliminary voting started in the subjects of the federation at the initiative of the All-Russia Popular Front (ONF). The primaries are meant to identify candidates for deputies in regional groups of the federal list. Sociologists predict that the Lower Parliament will be occupied by United Russia, the Communist Party, Fair Russia and the Liberal Democrats, with United Russia having reduced representation in comparison with the fifth convocation. As for the rest, the political system has not undergone major changes.
The United Russia party already has experience of participating in primaries, but this year for the first time not only representatives of the "United Russia" will appear on the final list, but also other organizations - members of the ONF. It is assumed that half of the candidates will be proposed by public institutions, 36% will join the State Duma as members of "United Russia" and another 6% will be given to individuals. The ONF creators hope that the primaries will not only help to create a list of appropriate candidates for elections, but in general will strengthen the human resources of United Russia, andaccordingly of the State Duma and the government.It is hard to judge how the primaries are held in the North Caucasus Federal District. Some experts consider it difficult for people to understand the point of identifying the most respected and popular people. Some observers even claim that people have been confused on purpose and not had the purpose of primaries explained to them.At first, local authorities suggested a formal voting procedure, but now, according to Adalbi Shhagoshev, a member of United Russia, who is in charge of primaries in the North Caucasus Federal District, "every meeting is held in the format of a chat between the candidates and people who come to vote."At the beginning of the "people's pre-election" the media published information that a quarter of Russian governors will not participate in the ONF primaries, due to their lack of popularity or other political reasons. The governor of Stavropol Territory, Valery Gajewski, was recommended to withdraw his candidacy. Stavropol Territory is the only North Caucasian republic in which the United Russia party does not have a stable popularity. Experts recall that, during the last Duma elections, the regional list had to include Sergei Shoigu, Alexander Karelin and Nicholay Rastorguev - without whom United Russia would not have won the elections in Stavropol Territory. Today there is a possibility that Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin will head the list of United Russia.Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, the head of Ingushetia, is another head of a North Caucasian administration who was not included in the list of regional leaders to participate in the primaries of the ONF. The federal list of United Russia in Ingushetia will be headed by State Duma deputy Belan Khamchiev and businessmen Alikhan Harthy, who are actively engaged in philanthropy in the region.The head of Kabardino-Balkaria does not only participate in the primaries, but has the majority of votes so far. According to primaries in Nalchik, Arsen Kanokov received 99.4% of votes and 99.1% in Baksan. In Nalchik United Russia has nominated three dozen candidates for primaries: 15 directly from the party, 17 - from social organizations - members of the ONF. One candidate is participating in the primaries as an independent candidate - a carpenter-builder of Nalchik kindergarten No. 63 Yury Mazloyev. Mazloyev has already received 31% of the votes. According to primaries, people can vote for anynumber of candidates. Candidates have from three to five minutes to present their programs to the electorate.The primaries in North Ossetia were not without a scandal. State Duma Deputy Arsen Fadzaev was at first refused to be included on the list. Later, when he was finally included on the list, all his requests to include his followers in the commission of election observes were denied. "Once the head of the republic ordered an enquiry into the result, everything became more than clear. The result will be positive if they ignore Fadzaev during the primaries ... The mechanism of ousting unwanted candidates have already been applied in other regions," supporters of Fadzaev say.To be continued.Katerina Tesemnikova. Exclusively for VK
