An accident with Sergei Mironov’s car can finally send him to political retirement – but even this, it seems, no one will notice.
There was an accident in the center of the capital. The car, which was the head of the faction “Fair Russia – For the Truth” in the State Duma, Sergei Mironov, knocked down a courier on a bicycle at a pedestrian crossing on Sretenka Street. An ambulance took the victim with a leg injury. The deputy confirmed that it was his car that hit the man.
It’s not only interesting here. According to the authors of the Mash Telegram channel, citing eyewitnesses, allegedly the driver, as soon as he realized what he had done, began to twist the numbers.
What does this threaten Sergey Mironov and what features of his political style does it expose – the correspondent understood The Moscow Post.
Let’s say right away: who is to blame for the accident, law enforcement officers and the court will decide. Yes, and Mironov himself is not threatened with deprivation of the mandate, and even more so freedom, he was not driving.
But his political opponents will definitely take advantage of the situation. Especially in the context of the redrawing of party alignments after the New People’s entry into parliament, the death of Vladimir Zhirinovsky and the international situation that has changed for the worse.
Mironov’s car with twisted license plates. Photo: gazeta.ru
An accident is a reason to finally push Mironov, who has lost popularity, from the political arena. Moreover, according to MK, this is not the first time the politician’s car has been in an accident – this happened in April 2021. So, Sergei Mironov allows him to ride like that?
“Principled” Mironov
The long-term chairman of the Just Russia party (now it has also been joined by For the Truth!), the former head of the Federation Council, Sergei Mironov, was often the object of a dismissive attitude from his colleagues. He was considered soft, amorphous, a compromiser.
The managerial style of Mironov himself and his environment differ from this image. It seems that the driver of the “thief in law” and, as it were, a very gentle man Mironov, began to change the numbers on a car no worse than a real arrogant official near Moscow – with whom Sergey Mironov is verbally fighting so much.
People from the journalistic environment who previously worked with Mironov claim that he himself is allegedly a rather arrogant and tough person, and that his entourage, security and escort, also behaves.
But the main thing is different: the amazing political flexibility of the former head of the Federation Council. Recall that Mironov held this post from 2001 to 2011. There were rumors that under Mironov, a seat in the Federation Council could be bought regardless of the political position and the trust of voters.
Of course, there is no evidence. But one of Mironov’s scandals in 2011 is related to this. The late LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky was so outraged by Mironov’s entrepreneurial spirit that he publicly claimed that Mironov was giving seats in the upper house of parliament in exchange for bribes.
In response, Mironov filed a lawsuit against Zhirinovsky and the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, where this thesis was voiced. The Pravo.ru publication wrote about the situation. Apparently, Mironov won the lawsuit, otherwise he would not have been able to stay in politics.
But tell me – who do you personally believe more: the late passionary Vladimir Volfovich or the “quiet” Sergei Mikhailovich?
“Belolentochnik” Mironov
Even more acute scandals surrounded Sergei Mironov directly in the State Duma, where he headed the Just Russia faction. It so happened that, in time, his departure from the Federation Council and the beginning of work in the State Duma coincided with the protest activity in the Russian Federation, heated up in the West.
We remember these events well. We remember how they tried to use the objective discontent of the people to stir up the political situation in the country – through illegal rallies, provocations and even threats against the authorities. The goal – a new revolution in the Russian Federation, failed miserably. And the so-called. non-systemic opposition completely discredited itself.
But what was the position of Mironov! Remember the white ribbons (in all ages – a symbol of capitulation), with which provocateurs took to the streets of Moscow? And which later, with the light hand of President Vladimir Putin, began to be compared with contraceptives fastened on jackets from “Brioni”?
White ribbons have become a symbol of betrayal of national interests in Russia for a long time. And it was Sergei Mironov and his Just Russia faction in the State Duma who contributed to their popularization. The comrades went so far as to put on white ribbons right at the meeting of the State Duma. And when – during the discussion of the law on tougher punishment for violations of the rules for organizing and holding rallies.
Then Mr. Mironov called “United Russia” a party of stranglers of freedom. News29.ru recalls the situation. Well, photos of Mironovites with white ribbons on the Web are a dime a dozen.
Without feeling sympathy for United Russia, let’s say one thing – Mr. Mironov’s position looks hypocritical. He also voted for many other initiatives of the party in power to tighten legislation to protect the country’s political, information, and public field.
The white ribbon on the jacket of Sergei Mironov and his associates will be remembered for a long time … Photo: rusinros.ru
But that was after. After the White Ribbon movement lost miserably, and further support of these people threatened A Just Russia with deportation from parliament.
There was another moment. After all, Mr. Mironov was nominated for the presidency in 2012 – just when the events described above took place. And, it seems, he really wanted the laurels of the country’s main opposition leader Alexei Navalny (recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation, included in the list of terrorists and extremists).
But the wind blew in a completely different direction. The vast majority of Russians did not support the “protesters”. And the electorate, on which Sergei Mironov counted so much, did not cling to him. Mironov took fifth place with a devastating result of 3.85%, leaving behind even Mikhail Prokhorov, who has now left for permanent residence in Israel.
However, for Mironov himself, this was a success compared to the previous elections in 2004, where he, already in the rank of speaker of the Federation Council, did not even reach one percent.
Team to match
The white ribbon situation changed the idea of his political power forever. Flexibility was everywhere. The author of these lines recalls a case when he personally interviewed former State Duma deputy Ilya Ponomarev, who has now fled the country.
In 2012, Mr. Ponomarev did his best to portray loyalty to the country and the state, expressing confidence in the victory of the leader of the SR, Sergei Mironov, in the presidential elections.
And after that, he sided with the most destructive political forces in the country and fled from Russia. In parallel, a criminal case was opened against him under the article aiding in embezzlement. Investigators charged the embezzlement to the then Vice President of Skolkovo Alexei Beltyukov. According to the investigation, he illegally transferred $ 750 thousand of the Fund’s funds to Ponomarev. RIA Novosti wrote about the situation.
Ilya Ponomarev – was one of the few bright party members who were moved forward by Mr. Mironov. Did he know what kind of snake he warmed on his chest, flirting with the white ribbons?
But Ponomarev is not the only scandalous figure in the Mironov “clip”. It seems that they are all “smeared” by Mirnov alone …
In the middle of the tenths, a whole series of scandals with his fellow party members thundered. For example, in 2015, the Voronezh Regional Electoral Committee appealed to State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin with a complaint about the behavior of Oleg Pakholkov, a Just Russia deputy, on the night of the counting of votes in the elections to the Duma of the Voronezh Region. Kommersant wrote about that story.
Representatives of the regional election commission report that “drunk and not hiding it” Oleg Pakholkov, together with a candidate for deputy to the regional Duma Dmitry Noskov and a group of “drunk jocks” invaded the TECs of the Soviet and Kominternovsky districts of Voronezh.
We must not forget another well-known Mironovite, Oleg Shein, who at the beginning of the 10s went on an almost hysterical hunger strike with political demands. Other fair Russians used to be also not averse to starving out of opportunistic considerations. Recall that Oleg Shein instantly calmed down as soon as he became a State Duma deputy – and obviously not without the support of Mr. Mironov.
Mironov’s colleague Oleg Shein quickly realized that much could be achieved by scandals together with SR. Photo: domsovet.tv
Now “Fair Russia – For Truth” has a new stage. Associated just with the second part of the name of the updated party. But it is already clear today that after the Duma campaign, a real fuss and struggle for power is going on inside the new structure. Even before the elections, A Just Russia began to cross out the people of Zakhar Prilepin from the lists of candidates for the State Duma, Ura.ru wrote about this.
Today, the crisis in the party is only growing – despite the relatively good result in the elections in 2021 (the party was ahead of the Liberal Democratic Party and the New People, having received 27 mandates). But the main crisis of the SZRP is the crisis of leadership. The issue of Mironov’s political retirement is not worth it – the only question is when. And whether he will drag away with him what is left of the once potentially second party in power.