Artists and athletes will become harder to break into politics
New mass appeal to the Duma athletes, entertainers, and figures of show business is not expected. This is due to the return of the election in single-member constituencies in which only one big name is not enough. The party this time will not bet on the stars, engaging them for decoration lists, because I doubt the effectiveness of such electoral technology. But the old guard celebrities in the Duma, most likely, will remain she managed to get involved in the political process.
The practice of attraction of stars of show business and sport as locomotives of party lists coincided with the abolition of elections to the state Duma in single-mandate constituencies. “Due to the rating of popular figures increased the chances to receive mandates from candidates from the bottom of the list with less big names, such as businessmen,” says research Director of the Fund ISAPI Alexander Pozhalov. In 2007, the first elections were held exclusively under the proportional system — this campaign was the first mass arrival of stars in Parliament.
As a result, in the parliamentary ranks were representatives of practically all kinds of sports, cultural figures, many of which the MP liked it and they began to move from one convocation to another. For example, in the state Duma of the fifth convocation worked more than two dozen athletes. Among the most well-known former MPs gymnasts Alina Kabayeva and Svetlana Khorkina, figure skater Anton Sikharulidze, ballerina Svetlana Zakharova, and others.
In the current state Duma of the stars is also sufficient. The interests of the people in Parliament are including tennis player Marat Safin, boxer-heavyweight Nikolay Valuev (growth had to specifically customize the Deputy chair), actress Maria Kozhevnikova, the fame of which took part in the pop group “Love stories”, the role in the TV series “Univer” and shoot at the Playboy magazine.
However, with the return of the mixed system, the trend of strengthening parliamentary ranks of the people’s favorites, not related to professional policies, may come to naught. During the elections that will take place on 18 September 2016, only half of the total composition of the Duma will be elected on party lists and the remaining 225 deputies in single-mandate constituencies.
“To win in the district need to have behind a real business on a local level, experience of effective working with people and their problems, that is to be a public politician or public man, — says Alexander Pozhalov. — In addition, voters have a request for new faces, but not active actors or athletes that in the mass a world away from the ordinary people, and figures with great social capital. These can be public figures, distinguished journalists, heads of charitable foundations, socially responsible entrepreneurs. So, I believe, in the new call of stars will not be — neither party plans to do the main rate, although there may be individual exceptions. Some regional deputies, in the past, athletes may want to the state Duma, but from the sport immediately to big-time politics — this is hardly possible”.
First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on housing policy and housing Elena Nikolaev (left) and first Deputy Chairman of the Committee on culture Iosif Kobzon (right).
Deputy Secretary of General Council of “United Russia”, state Duma Deputy Olga batalina said “the Tape.ru”, “no particular quotas for entertainers or athletes is not and can not be”. “To be nominated for deputies of the state Duma from the party, must successfully complete a provisional ballot and confirm that you have the support of the population in the region, she says. — It is already clear that the chances to reach the leaders of the primaries have only those stars who is able to unite various social groups and professional communities. At the election the voter will be primarily to assess their social services, their usefulness in Parliament, and not the success in work or business”.
However, this does not mean that the stars path in the ordered policy, — there are examples when their talents are relevant and in the fight for the public good. “For example, Nikolay Valuev all know first and foremost as an athlete, but he is still and active member, which is engaged in the fight against drug addiction,” admits batalina.
The former chief of the presidential Directorate for domestic policy and Deputy speaker of the state Duma of the fifth convocation Oleg Morozov considers as erroneous and ineffective the technology of arrangement of stars on the zoom percent: “For famous people from the artistic community and the athletes vote when they are still of good policy. In single-member district for money or not to leave”.
According to Morozova, the parliamentary future belongs to those artists and athletes, for whom the MP has become the main. “For example, Joseph Kobzon was several times elected to the state Duma on one-mandatory district in Buryatia. I will describe how vysokodispersnogo Deputy and the professional. The same can be said about the film Director Stanislav Govorukhin, the Olympic champion Irina Rodnina and some other parliamentarians,” — says Morozov.
In a press-service of the Deputy of the state Duma, people’s artist Iosif Kobzon “Feed.ru” reported that he plans to participate in the elections from the TRANS-Baikal region, which represents in the lower house of Parliament. Now Kobzon just busy collecting documents for the primaries.
Popular in politics and Stanislav Govorukhin: co-chair of the Central staff of the Russian popular front (onf) invited to run and Stavropol, and Moscow organization of United Russia. It is possible that he will become one of the leading figures in the party list.
To be elected to the next Duma will probably be and the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on culture, film Director and screenwriter Vladimir Bortko, said “the Tape.ru” in the Communist party.
Three-time Olympic champion in figure skating Irina Rodnina and Paralympic champion in skiing, the Chairman of the Committee on labor Mikhail Terentiev plan to participate in the primaries of “United Russia” in the Moscow region, about what has been recently announced by the Moscow region Governor Andrei Vorobyov. Opera singer Maria Maksakova-Igenbergs is in the primary ER in St. Petersburg.
Nine-time world champion and twelve-time European champion in wrestling Alexander Karelin, who in 2011 was entrusted to lead the regional group of the list of “United Russia” in the Novosibirsk region, have yet to release their plans.
Experts predict that current stars-deputies to maintain their positions. “This, of course, is about those figures all-Russian scale, which managed to place as a policy, the same Iosif Kobzon, Irina Rodnina, Vladislav Tretiak and Nikolai Valuev, which could be the heavyweights for the district and for the list,” says Alexander Pozhalov. The General Director of Agency of political and economic communications Dmitry Orlov believes that the campaign for 2016 has not come out to be just a star in the list: you need to have real and significant political influence in the region from which nominated.
However, many of the current deputies-athletes in politics are not new. The Olympic champion on skating sports Svetlana Zhurova beginning with the legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, has worked in the Federation Council, was the Supreme Council of “United Russia”, from which he was expelled in February during rotation. The repeated world champion on chess Anatoly Karpov was the Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and three-time Olympic hockey champion Vladislav Tretyak was deputatstvom in IV, V and VI convocations, headed the Committee for physical culture and sports. Vasily Shestakov, Vladimir Putin entered the national team of Leningrad in judo, were elected to the Duma from the Rodina and just Russia, and the party in power. All of them went into politics on the wave of its popularity, but retained at the expense of high professionalism. For beginners, you plank above, so the stars wanting to get into the Duma, you still have to prove their abilities to public policy through the primaries.
