Russian Central Electoral Committee chairman Alexander Veshnyakov in Moscow on March 15, 2007.
Photo: Valery Melnikov
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Veshnyakov in "Shock"
// Former Elections Committee Head Faces Unexpected Departure
Yesterday Russian Central Electoral Committee chairman Alexander Veshnyakov held his penultimate session as committee head in a half-empty room. It was only with difficulty that the country's main specialist on democratic elections concealed his disbelief that presidential favor had passed him by, as Kommersant correspondent Irina Nagornykh learned during a day spent at the outgoing chairman's side.
At the entrance to the Electoral Committee (TsIK) chamber, officials exchanged opinions about the upcoming departure of the committee's chief: "No one lasts forever, of course." The ladies manning the buffet table echoed them, adding, "well, it's nothing to us, we'll get used to the new chairman."
The TsIK chairman's spacious reception room, where his secretary sat wiling away the day with nothing to do, was empty. Soon Alexander Veshnyakov, accompanied by his assistant Sergei Nestorov, came out of his office. "O-o-okay," he sighed before heading off to the meeting chamber with his eyes on the floor.
According to reports, he had no desire to chair this meeting, but important tasks still lay before him, and he couldn't miss it. On Monday, when the president summoned him for a meeting, he had hoped to be confirmed in his post for a third term. He told Vladimir Putin that he foresees the president's faction in the TsIK (the president appoints five members, as do the Federation Council and the State Duma) remaining the same after the reshuffle, with the exception of one member. "Okay, we'll think about it," the president replied in an oddly distant tone.
That "okay, we'll think about it" spread like wildfire through the TsIK. And then on Tuesday, the committee's head was booted out of his post. His first instinct was to refuse to talk to anyone. Then he gathered together his colleagues and explained the situation to them. Several women in the group burst into tears.
TsIK secretary Olga Zastrozhnaya, who had hurried into the meeting, nodded at Kommersant's correspondent: "Yes, it was unexpected," she said. She shrugged her shoulders. "A change of course."
The meeting room was only half full. Of the 15 members of the TsIK, only 11 turned up for the meeting, including those who will soon be leaving the committee. Many advisory members of the committee did not attend. There was some life on the side of the room reserved for journalists, but a yawning emptiness gaped among the seats reserved for invitees (usually occupied by party representatives and representatives of regional electoral committees, etc.), which on this occasion hosted only a group of smiling Central Asians: an election committee delegation from Kazakhstan had arrived on a planned trip.
Alexander Veshnyakov approached the television cameras like a condemned man going to the gallows. Then he remembered about posture and squared his shoulders. When he spoke, his voice was somehow tired: "Isn't the president not allowed a third term? The chairman of the Central Electoral Committee is, but now it won't be allowed. That will probably be an unwritten rule for all heads of the TsIK."
He was asked about his plans for future employment, to which he replied that he does not want to discuss the matter yet.
"So far there are offers from three parties (particularly from A Just Russia), the bidding has been opened, but" – here he was silent for a moment – "going into politics is very unlikely."
The departing chairman mentioned three times that he has not left yet and that he is a lame duck for the time being. On March 20 there will be another session, since ongoing issues still need to be discussed. Then he plans to award prizes to journalists who have covered elections. Finally, he expressed hope that he will be invited on March 26 to the first session of the new TsIK, at which the new chairman will be chosen. It was clear that he still has not fully grasped the fact that he is leaving.
"I need to stop and take a look around. When they talk behind the back of someone who's leaving, people reveal themselves. It's interesting what you learn about people that way. It will come in handy for me, since after all I'm not retiring for good," he mused aloud, as if he had forgotten about the microphone.
He was undoubtedly referring to the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) faction in the State Duma, which on Wednesday walked out of a plenary session of the Duma to advertise their belief that the TsIK chairman played up to A Just Russia in the last election, to the detriment of the LDPR.
The journalists were interested in how his friends and family were taking his departure.
"The word is a short one, with three letters (in Russian). I can say it," – Mr. Veshnyakov paused – "Shock."
And in bowing out, he promised that he will return – "it's too early to retire," he said.
"Yeah, two years ago they were hinting in the president's administration that if it was time to go, they would let him choose his next position," the female officials gossiped quietly near the elevator. "He went to Europe, visited some international organizations, looked and looked. The offices were too small. So he turned them down."
Irina Nagornykh
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 16, 2007
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