Residents are willing to support nominees for a couple of thousand rubles, but no guarantee of results
Election battles can seem peaceful process compared to what is happening in the neighboring region – Leningrad region literally covered the political storms of local importance. Each district has its own specifics, ranging from climatic conditions and ending with the proximity to the metropolis, as well as their own candidates – from tried by boxers to billionaires who supply local farmers with manure.
While the team of the Governor Alexander Drozdenko cheerful reports in the best tradition about the harvested acres of carrots and cabbage and the number of hay “on one conditional head of cattle, sociologists have estimated how many rubles in average private regional voter is ready to vote. In previous years, according to various reports, this amount in some areas reached up to 10 thousand rubles (this is, in particular, recently recalled during one of the round table Director of the Foundation for political culture Anna Khmeleva). Now, as said sociologist Tatyana Protasenko, voters in the majority is called the sum from 1 thousand to 2 thousand rubles. While 11% of respondents agree to the amount of more than 3 thousand rubles., and some, however, will be happy and 500.
Interestingly, 70% are willing to sell their votes in a respectable part of the population: teachers, doctors, government employees. However, according to the same Khmeleva, the voters – the people cunning, distribution of money does not work: take the money and spoil ballots or vote for another candidate. It is noticed that the bribe is not in favor of the parties, and in favor of some individual outstanding personalities. All workers in the Leningrad oblast of the party many observers seem to be some unified and monolithic, most certainly, United Russia. However, this year for the first time in many years, at different levels of nominated candidates from the “Apple” – environmentalists Lina Zernova (Pine forest), Anton Goduk (Vsevolozhsk), etc. To Apple joined and well-known trade Union leader Alexei Etmanov in the previous convocation of the legislative Assembly, he went from “Fair Russia”, but now the socialist-revolutionaries had a change of heart to cooperate with him for the unenthusiastic way of thinking in relation to the authorities. By the way, the “United Russia” (ER) at the time demanded that the socialist-revolutionaries to eliminate Etmanova from the party, but there was a catch: he’s technically in the party and was not involved.
But the billionaire and the current Deputy of regional legislative Assembly Alexander Trafimov famous more fundamental. He is the only candidate in his district in the Vsevolozhsk district, the rest of the party – therefore, it is necessary to collect signatures. For this reason the villagers have been promised the distribution of manure, which had to bring in trucks. However, the Deputy rejected the insinuation, saying that the signatures he almost collected, and the manure and it always distributed, and so his tradition, but, perhaps, this case will go down in regional history as one of the most original pre-election methods.
Vsevolozhsk district is generally always dramatic. It is close to town, the population grows there, and not all of it consists of manure-hungry peasants. Here circular migration: the part of the people goes to work on Peter, partly in the district of Peter, there is a perpetual construction, a dispute over land, environmental battle, discussions about the development of transport and infrastructure. Therefore, in the circles of local power or near to it constantly someone with someone or just skirmish competes. Now in an election battle, rushed to the boxer, entrepreneur and former head of the administration of Eduard Chirko, in a biography that has a criminal record, and many other interesting episodes. He believes the main rival of the incumbent MP, whom the publication called “the most famous Azerbaijanis of St. Petersburg” – Sayad Aleeva. But they quarreled more than one year, so that some new intrigue is not.
But the permanent head of the Podporozhsky district Paul Levin no luck: it can not expel the fact that with elections, but not from the “United Russia”. He exhibited the candidate in the legislative Assembly of the EP, but was caught, according to some media reports, drunk driving and refused a medical examination. However, despite the abundance of witnesses and materials, Levin argues that he did not drink.
Svetlana Gavrilina – correspondent of the “Nezavisimaya Gazeta” in St. Petersburg and Leningrad region
