The Samara Provincial Duma announced a “public censure” of the communist Mikhail Abdalkin, who watched the message of President Vladimir Putin to the Federal Assembly literally with noodles on his ears. The deputies unanimously recommended that the regional committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation expel him from the party, and also appealed to law enforcement agencies and the prosecutor’s office with a request to give a legal assessment of the situation. However, the communists themselves are still silent about the future of Mr. Abdalkin.
On February 28, the procedural committee, on behalf of the chairman of the regional parliament, Gennady Kotelnikov (United Russia), considered the situation related to the appearance on the network of a video in which Mikhail Abdalkin is watching a message from Vladimir Putin with noodles on his ears. The communist himself posted it on VKontakte last Tuesday, accompanied by a sarcastic comment: “I fully support, I fully agree, excellent performance. I have not heard anything like this in the last 23 years. Pleasantly surprised”.
The committee considered this behavior unacceptable. He recommended to the Duma that the deputy be publicly reprimanded, and that the Samara Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation should be deprived of leadership positions (Mikhail Abdalkin heads the city committee of Novokuibyshevsk and is a member of the bureau of the regional committee) and expelled from the party. In addition, it was proposed to send materials on the deputy’s behavior to law enforcement agencies and the prosecutor’s office for evaluation.
On the same day, the deputies considered the recommendations of the profile committee at the plenary session. Speaker Gennady Kotelnikov said that in the context of a special military operation and a difficult international situation, such behavior is “unacceptable.” According to him, indignant citizens, including those from other regions, continue to apply to the parliament.
“At what point did he put on noodles when the president announced a minute of silence for the dead? We are all on the verge of a global catastrophe, how can you be rude at such a moment? Marina Antimonova, vice-speaker of the EP, was indignant, adding that her grandfather was a communist and therefore she was “very hurt” that the Communist Party “has been defamed by a person who has done nothing at all in his life, an empty place.”
“If a member of the United Russia party did this, he would have been expelled and deprived of his mandate long ago,” United Russia summed up to thunderous applause from the audience.
The leader of the Communist Party faction and the first secretary of the Samara regional committee, Alexei Leskin, tried to stand up for his comrade, noting that in the caption to the scandalous video, Mikhail Abdalkin still praised Vladimir Putin’s speech. “You will receive an answer in due time,” he promised his colleagues at the end of his speech.
There were also those in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation who were outraged and “shocked” by Comrade Abdalkin’s behavior.
“I looked through the dictionaries: noodles on the ears means “brazen lies”. What the president said about the special operation, the hegemony of the West, the development of the economy, I do not consider a lie, ”said Mikhail Usov, a representative of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, urging his comrade to “repent and apologize.”
Mikhail Maryakhin, the leader of the A Just Russia – For Truth faction, in turn, threatened the Communists with a refusal to help them pass the municipal filter in the upcoming elections.
Representatives of the LDPR and New People also condemned the behavior of Mr. Abdalkin, after which the deputies unanimously supported the decision of the relevant committee. “Public condemnation” was supported even by the communists present at the meeting.
Alexei Leskin and Mikhail Abdalkin declined to comment to Kommersant. It should be noted that on February 24, after the angry reaction of the State Duma deputy from the Samara region Alexander Khinshtein (ER), the speaker of parliament Gennady Kotelnikov and even the member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Alexander Yushchenko, who advised the communist to “return to real life”, Mr. Abdalkin posted a photo on VKontakte from the store where he chooses noodles. On Monday, the deputy also told subscribers that on March 1 he was expected by the police.
Yaroslav Avilov, deputy general director of the consulting agency GR Group, doubts that the actions of the deputy can be found a criminal offense or an administrative offense. The relevant Art. 319 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Insulting a representative of the authorities”) and Art. 5.61 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (“Insult”) require an examination, which should not only find insulting elements, but also explain exactly how and in what way they offend the president, the expert says.
