The first stage of the pre-election congress of the United Russia party was held in Moscow. Its main result was that the head of the party, former president and now Vice-President of the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, was not included in the party’s list of candidates, even though he tried hard to do so.
In January “Vedomosti” RBC wrote that the presidential administration and United Russia have already agreed on the “basic option” – the “five” led by Medvedev. Publications sources explained this by the supposedly high rating of the politician. Meduza’s interlocutors close to the presidential administration said at that time that Medvedev may not appear on the list again – because in fact the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council has low popularity. They point out that Medvedev himself really wants to lead United Russia in order to “recapitalize his image” and then claim the post of Speaker of the Duma.
The AP’s political bloc recognized that with Medvedev at the top of the ticket, it would be very difficult for the Kremlin to provide the party in power with a key performance indicator: “He’s clearly pro-war. People are tired of war.” As happened during the 2021 campaign, Medvedev’s inclusion on the list was opposed by State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, who wants to keep his post, and the head of the political bloc, Sergei Kiriyenko.
In mid-June, Meduza wrote that Dmitry Medvedev was actively pushing for the option of forming a troika at the top of the list – with himself, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and “military correspondent” Yevgeny Poddubny. More on this plan later books And “Kommersant”. However, Meduza’s interlocutors close to the AP once again confirmed that Medvedev may not be on the United Russia list, unlike Sobyanin and Poddubny: they were named among the agreed upon candidates.
The top five on the EP list looks like this. The first number is Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The second is Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. They are followed by: the head of the headquarters of the pro-government children’s movement “Youth Army”, a war veteran Vladislav Golovin; Children’s Ombudsman and wife of Orthodox oligarch Konstantin Malofeeva Maria Lvova Belova; “Military correspondent” Yevgeny Poddubny.
According to Meduza’s interlocutor close to the AP, the option with Lavrov, Lvova-Belova, and Golovin “crystallized on Friday and Saturday,” and the final plan was shaped by President Vladimir Putin. As Meduza previously wrote, the nominations for Foreign Minister and Head of Youth Army Headquarters were not discussed at the beginning of June. Lvova-Belova’s name did not appear on any prospect lists.
RBC midweek I mentionedThat United Russia will be led by Sergei Sobyanin to the elections. “There was an agreed upon choice for Sobyanin – United Russia and the political bloc, United Russia, except of course for Medvedev himself,” Meduza’s interlocutor in the ruling party smiles sadly.
A spokesman close to the political bloc confirmed: “The first release constitutes a surprise to all those involved in preparing for the event.” Lavrov’s candidacy, although not the most, does not consider Lavrov’s candidacy a problem – the minister will not interfere in the work of the political bloc in the management of the United Russia campaign, “to define his vision, as Medvedev will try to do.”
At the same time, another interviewer close to the AP called the members of the five excluding Lavrov and Sobyanin “no names and no connection to the party.” “The authority of the Moscow mayor is an understandable asset, but there is a risk of it being eroded by figures whose advantages in the field of internal politics and public administration are not obvious even to the party leadership,” explains a source in United Russia. Sobyanin himself, as he put it, “to put it mildly, was not satisfied with this proximity”: “He subscribed to a different composition.”
At the beginning of the United Russia Congress, Vladimir Putin gave a welcoming speech. he contentThe elections “will be held within the period specified by law.” The AP’s political and information bloc defended the plan, while security forces lobbied for the elections to be postponed (Meduza wrote about this here).
The president promised to bring the development of the Russian economy to a new level and rebuked “political bloggers” who do not want to leave the messengers and their offices. United Russia posters placed at the conference declared it the “President’s Party.” The slogan on the posters read: “Being Putin is the basic minimum.” Earlier, Meduza wrote that United Russia wants to build a campaign on the basis of its status as “Putin’s party.”
“The lack of a president at the top of the list makes this situation easier,” an interviewer close to the Associated Press explained to Meduza. “Lavrov and Sobyanin are Putin’s people, his representatives, everything is clear.”
He did not rule out that the key performance indicators for the match results would eventually be lowered after the nomination of the top five. According to him, nominating the “strong executive” Sobyanin in first place on the list could increase the party’s rating or at least stop its decline: “He is unlikely to work with Lavrov. Sobyanin is on the list, but he is in second place, and you cannot focus the campaign on him.”
Andrei Burtsev