President Vladimir Putin did not visit the headquarters of his United Russia party on the election night although the press was informed at 3 o’clock in the morning about his possible arrival. On Monday, Vladimir Putin made it clear who he was considering to be the main winner as he thanked the voters to showing confidence to him. Analysts say that relations between the president and the party in power may soon transform.
The headquarters of the United Russia party accredited a huge number of Russian and foreign reporters for the election night. When the party’s vote started hovering around 60 percent most journalists went home. But all the accredited reporters got a call at 3 o’clock in the morning with information that Vladimir Putin was going to visit the election headquarters. Two hours of waiting ended in nothing, and everyone finally went home. Kommersant sources in United Russia said that it was a mere PR stunt and the visit had not been planned as no security measures had been mapped out, for example.
It is an unprecedented occasion that the leader of a party is not in the headquarters on the election night. It may be considered as a sign that the president was not happy about the results. United Russia with Vladimir Putin mustered fewer votes in 2007 than Mr. Putin alone in the presidential election in 2004. According to Kommersant sources, the president’s administration repeatedly expressed concern during the campaign about United Russia’s slack functionaries who thought they could relax after Mr. Putin had headed the party roll.
A great number of top party members would like to sit in the party-formed government or become governors, according to Kommersant sources. But they are not likely to be left resting on their laurels. The next session of United Russia [initially slated for December 17 but could be put off till a late date, according to Kommersant sources] may see personnel reshuffle and even sacking the party’s executive committee by Christmas. Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with workers in Krasnoyarsk in mid-November: “Is United Russia an ideal political structure? Of course, not! It still has no steady political principles but still it is close to power and these structures are very attractive for all types of crooks who want to capitalize on it.” Mr. Putin said at the pre-election session that they “should consider the renewal of the supreme federal and regional bodies of the party”.
“The party’s upgrade is unavoidable because it has lost its subjectivity in the election campaign as Putin and his administration have become the key to the victory,” says Evgeny Minchenko, director of the International Institute for Political Expertise. “If Putin said ‘A’, he will say ‘B’. He will suggest a new ideology and get rid of the ‘crooks’ in the party. In this situation, encouragement for party functionaries would not be logical.” Political scientist Dmitry Badovsky believes that there could be a scenario under which Vladimir Putin would head United Russia to build a system to control activities of his successor with the parliamentary majority. Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiev, one of United Russia’s leaders, said on Monday: “Our party intends to shape Russia’s first party government.” Mr. Badovsky believes that the rapprochement between Mr. Putin and the party would cause serious personnel and organizational reshuffle in United Russia. The expert also says that Putin has an opportunity to use the Kremlin-controlled Fair Russia and For Putin movement as a deterrent “for United Russia not to be relaxed”.
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Top 10 Regions where United Russia Gained the Biggest Vote
# Region Region’s Leader Votes for United Russia on December 2, 2007* Turnout in 2007* (percent) Votes for Vladimir Putin at the 2004 presidential election (percent)
1 Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov 99.36 99.50 92.30
2 Ingushetiya Murat Zyazikov 98.72 98.35 98.18
3 Kabardino-Balkariya Arsen Kanokov 96.12 96.70 96.49
4 Mordoviya Nikolay Merkushkin 93.41 94.53 91.35
5 Karachaevo-Cherkessiya Mustafa Batdyev 92.90 92.44 82.28
6 Dagestan Mushu Aliev 89.19 91.73 94.61
7 Tyva Sholban Kara-ool 89 80.89 87.53
8 Aginsky Buryatsky Autonomous Area Bair Zhamsuev 83.24 86.42 84.25
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Bashkortostan Murtaza Rakhmov 83.12 89.74 91.78
10 Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev 81.07 85.42 82.58
*Source: the Russian
Central Election Commission, December 3, 8.00 pm.
