At a meeting of the Legislative Assembly of the Leningrad Region, the deputies turned to the speaker of parliament, Sergei Bebenin, with a request to convene an ethics commission and hold communist Dmitry Zvonkov accountable after his post on a social network with a statement about governor Alexander Drozdenko. The parliamentarians unanimously condemned the colleague for “going personal”. Mr. Zvonkov retorted that he did not consider the used epithet – “talker” – an insult.
“Tomorrow there will be a missed meeting with Chatterbox,” this is how the post of the deputy from the Communist Party faction Dmitry Zvonkov begins on his personal page on the social network VKontakte, published on May 29. The epithet was designed as an active link to the page of the Governor of the Leningrad Region Alexander Drozdenko. In the publication, the communist writes that at the meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, it was planned to discuss the questions posed to the governor in March. Then the meeting did not take place, just like the April and May meetings. On May 30, the conversation between the governor and the deputies of the factions nevertheless took place.
According to Mr. Zvonkov, at the meeting, the parliamentarians discussed issues with the head of the 47th region, and the governor spoke about the communist publication only at the end, noting that it was unacceptable.
The press service of the government of the Leningrad region did not comment on the situation, but the deputies did so at yesterday’s meeting of the Legislative Assembly. The head of the United Russia faction in the regional parliament, Oleg Petrov, recalled that deputies who are officials should be attentive to their public statements, even on a personal page on a social network. As the head of the faction, Mr. Petrov made a United Russia proposal to the speaker of parliament to convene a commission on ethics and decide there what legal responsibility Dmitry Zvonkov would incur.
Alexander Ryazanov, a member of Mr. Petrov’s party, noted that there was nothing to discuss here, for an insulting report by a communist about the governor, one should simply deprive him of the right to vote for a month, and suggested that this issue be put to a vote. The initiative did not meet with the support of the parliamentarians, who worked through the whole session without a break. Alexander Perminov, leader of the Just Russia – For Truth faction, argued that everyone’s upbringing may be different, but parents instilled respect for elders and subordination in everyone the same way. Mr. Perminov’s colleague in the faction, Anna Khmeleva, emphasized that the Legislative Assembly is not a stand-up institution. “You, Dmitry Sergeevich, have the right to constructive criticism, but it is constructive, and you allowed yourself to go beyond the framework of not just professional, but human ethics,” Ms. Khmeleva expressed her personal opinion.
The head of the LDPR faction, Andrei Lebedev, was most worried in the situation that had arisen that he was not allowed to speak on one of the issues on the agenda, and some bills were put to a vote without debate. “I would not be here to educate our colleagues. Well, whoever is brought up, God be his judge,” Mr. Lebedev remarked philosophically.
The representative of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Zvonkov expressed his readiness to take part in the commission on ethics, making a note that he did not consider the word he used an insult. “This is my position and the opinion of my voters, formed after certain actions,” Mr. Zvonkov said, asking a counter-question whether the commission would consider messages of “doubtful content” about the communist himself, published in “pro-government telegram channels.”
The press service of the parliament of the Leningrad region clarified that it is not yet known whether the question of Mr. Zvonkov’s actions will be submitted to the next meeting of the permanent commission of the Legislative Assembly on legislation, regulations and deputy ethics. The commission’s work schedule for June has not yet been determined.
