“Kommersant” continues to talk about the main events in party life and how they can affect the results of the September elections. The main information occasion of last week was the celebration of Russia Day, and party members willingly used it as an opportunity to once again convey their program guidelines to voters. As for election activity, United Russia was in the lead, having completed a series of reporting and program forums.
United Russia celebrated Russia Day most actively with the active assistance of the party youth team. Patriotic flash mobs, concerts, sports tournaments and national cuisine festivals were held in various regions. Spravorossians also took part in creating a festive atmosphere by organizing car, motorcycle and bicycle races, children’s drawing competitions and intellectual games on knowledge of the history of the Russian Federation.
The Communist Party of the Russian Federation, on the contrary, according to a long-standing tradition, did not celebrate the holiday on June 12 (communists consider this date rather tragic and directly related to the collapse of the USSR), focusing on current party concerns such as preparations for the pre-election congress. The “New People” also did without major celebrations, who instead sent a “large humanitarian convoy to the Kursk direction” and reported on the completion of the “Week of Heroes,” during which party members helped the families of the North Military District participants in 38 regions. And the LDPR tried to combine both opposing approaches by organizing a rally-concert in Moscow under the telling title “We will celebrate after the Victory!”
The party members also did not forget about purely pre-election matters, although their intensity turned out to be uneven. Worked more actively on election issues than others “United Russia” (ER). On June 9, she held a reporting and program forum in Moscow, thereby completing a series of seven similar events in different federal districts. And already on June 11, United Russia Chairman Dmitry Medvedev gathered the party’s expert council to discuss the main contours of the election program. He said that the “People’s Program” had received almost 2 million proposals from Russians, and outlined seven challenges facing the country (from demography to external security), the answers to which should be given by the main election document.
For Communist Party of the Russian Federation The most significant event of the week was the “Congress of People’s Deputies of Siberia,” at which, in addition to internal party problems, issues of strategy and tactics in the State Duma elections were also discussed. In addition, the Communists summed up the preliminary results of their “People’s Candidate” primaries, in which, according to their data, more than 2.4 million people took part (although the party congress will have the final say in the selection of candidates).
However, in the media and social networks, a much greater resonance was caused by the speech of State Duma deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Markhaev, who in his Telegram-channel harshly criticized the Russian leadership for the lack of “real achievements” (including in the Northern Military District zone) and warned about the possibility of “social explosion and chaos.”
Other parties reminded voters of themselves with targeted actions. LDPR launched a new project, “Large LDPR Team,” designed to “unite concerned citizens.” As party leader Leonid Slutsky explained, anyone who is “ready to speak the truth and fight injustice in their region, city, village, or backyard” can join him. “A Just Russia” together with the public association “MotoRussia”, it established the “Motor Parliament”, which should become for 2 million Russian motorcyclists “a platform for direct dialogue with the authorities.” A “New People” reported on the admission of a resident of the Vologda region, Yuri Mikhalev, to the party (“in ordinary life, he is a father and an engineer, and on New Year’s Eve, one of the official all-Russian Santa Clauses”) and celebrated the unblocking of the Roblox gaming platform in the Russian Federation, recalling their contribution to resolving this issue and calling on the authorities to “do the same with other blocked social networks.”
Legislative policy
The past week in the State Duma was rich in important bills – both those already adopted and those just introduced for consideration.
Among the first, several documents developed by United Russia stand out. In all three readings, amendments to reform the institution of the business ombudsman, changes to the Budget Code on deferring payments to regions on budget loans worth 100 billion rubles were approved. and a project that exempts urgent work to protect important facilities from enemy drones from unnecessary approvals. Deputies also adopted a number of high-profile government bills related to strengthening the fight against fraudsters, banning the sale of vapes in the regions and tightening some rules for migrants.
The most notable of the projects submitted to the Duma were two more documents from United Russia – on deferring the reduction of the VAT threshold under a simplified taxation system and on preserving the right to housing for the families of deceased SVO participants even if the established size of living space is exceeded.
Opposition factions marked themselves with new social initiatives. Thus, the communists proposed returning the scrap tax on cars to families with three children and again making the “consumer basket” a standard indicator when calculating the cost of living. The Spravorossians not only spoke on their favorite “central banking” topic, introducing an amendment requiring the Duma to approve decisions on setting the key rate above 7%, but also proposed banning parliamentarians and their families from owning foreign real estate. Previously, the communists tried to implement such a ban more than once, but all their attempts were unsuccessful.
“United Russia” (ER) maintains a leading position in the information agenda. The event in Moscow concluded the series of district forums “There is a result!” The party submitted to the State Duma a draft on not lowering the VAT threshold under a simplified taxation system. United Russia Chairman Dmitry Medvedev held a meeting of the expert council to prepare a new “People’s Program”, announcing almost 2 million initiatives from citizens.
Communist Party of the Russian Federation attracted attention with the discussion surrounding the nomination of Valery Rashkin to the State Duma. The demarche of State Duma deputy Vyacheslav Markhaev with criticism of the domestic and foreign policies of the federal government also became noticeable. LDPR focused on social initiatives. Leonid Slutsky asked the prosecutor’s office to check the safety of attractions after children were injured in two cities. The party advocated for the restoration of sports infrastructure in small towns and villages and proposed introducing a mechanism for assessing the quality of medical care through the State Services portal.
“New People” were remembered for the large-scale action “Heroes Week”, providing assistance to the families of SVO participants in 38 regions. A notable image move was the entry into the party of the All-Russian Father Frost from Vologda. Leader “A Just Russia” Sergei Mironov announced the creation of the “Motor Parliament”, proposed allowing maternity capital to be spent on the purchase of Russian cars and home repairs, and also appealed to the head of the Ministry of Construction with a demand to develop unified federal standards for the quality of housing and communal services.
As the election announcement date approaches, parties are increasing their information activity. The quality of the information infrastructure (press services, blogs of deputies, SMM marketing) and the content of broadcast messages are becoming increasingly important.
“United Russia” continues to lead the way, producing half of all content in this segment. United Russia completed a series of reporting forums and discussed the contours of the new “People’s Program”. The president’s support for United Russia’s initiatives to allocate funds for children’s recreation and to cancel the reduction in the threshold for “simplified” for small businesses caused a great resonance.
Communist Party of the Russian Federation following United Russia, it summed up the results of the primaries, essentially announcing several competitive campaigns in single-member districts. The communists are also trying to position themselves on the anti-prohibition agenda by announcing the creation of the “For a Free Internet” movement. In addition, the party is carefully testing the possibility of working in the niche of “angry patriots”: Markhaev’s statement about the inability of the authorities to cope with drone attacks and the need for a public plan for completing the SVO sparked active discussion on social networks. In fact, this is the first attempt to criticize the authorities on the topic of SVO, being within the perimeter of the Duma consensus around the special operation.
LDPR The most points were brought by Slutsky’s statement regarding Zelensky’s letter to the President of the Russian Federation and the proposal to cancel the fine for motorists for forgotten licenses. The growth of publications about “A Just Russia” was associated with public and cultural projects: the “Motor Parliament” for bikers, the presentation of the party award at the Red Square book festival, etc. And the main media interest in “To new people” prompted a proposal to simplify the appeal of Unified State Exam results and statements on the prevention of teenage drug addiction.
“United Russia” remains the undisputed leader in media activity. The party was drawn to major federal issues: the forum “There is a result”, “People’s Program”, primaries, social initiatives for children’s recreation and support for SVO participants. The high result of the EP is ensured not only by the volume, but also by the administrative stability of the agenda.
Activity “New people” was thematically diverse: digital restrictions, women’s agenda, prevention of teenage addictions, Unified State Examination and educational initiatives. The party’s strength is getting into social and youth topics, which are well distributed in short videos and social networks. The “new” ones are inferior to United Russia in terms of federal scale and administrative power of the agenda, but among the opposition parties they look the most dynamic.
LDPR has maintained a stable presence primarily due to the topic of car fines, traffic rules and the “penalty economy”. This is a clear mass agenda concerning the protection of citizens from excessive state pressure. Communist Party of the Russian Federation was noticeable on the topic of digital bans and blocking, but its activity seems fragmented: many reasons, but less of a feeling of a single campaign. “A Just Russia” placed the main emphasis on prices, fuel, citizens’ incomes, support for SVO participants and their families, school topics, and the ban on foreign real estate for parliamentarians. This is a clear social protection agenda, but it lacked a bright federal event and a digital crackdown.
