At the XXXIV Congress of the Liberal Democratic Party, Leonid Slutsky was unanimously elected as the new chairman of the party. He solemnly vowed to continue the work of Zhirinovsky and outlined the future path of the Liberal Democratic Party.
The Liberal Democrats will remain a moderate opposition and will defend the Russian World. The party also proposed to rename the LDPR to the Zhirinovsky Party or to add the name of its founder to the existing name – “LDPR – Zhirinovsky’s Party”, so as not to lose political points. Daily Storm tells what changes within the party have been outlined after the election of Slutsky as the new leader.
How it all began
The LDPR congress traditionally took place in the early morning and was strictly regulated. Delegates from all over the country came to elect a new party chairman for the first time in over 30 years. The press service allowed the press to enter the headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party in Basmanny Lane only after the start of the official part. A string of journalists was escorted to the next building, where they settled in one of the tiny offices of the Institute of World Civilizations.
After an hour of tedious waiting, no permission was received to enter the assembly hall. On the sidelines, one of the representatives of the party said that such strict conditions were set by the congress delegates themselves. Before the public part of the event, they would like to discuss all their “grievances and wishes” without cameras, so none of the journalists will be allowed in until noon. Nevertheless, the wait lasted almost until one in the afternoon.
At this time, at the meeting, which began with a moment of silence in memory of Zhirinovsky, candidates for the post of chairman were nominated. Self-nominated Alexander Sherin, who repeatedly announced his intention to become the new leader of the party, was not supported by anyone. And longtime party member Vitaly Zolochevsky withdrew his candidacy, supporting Slutsky and at the same time accusing Sherin of the collapse of the Ryazan branch of the party and financial opacity. After none of the party members supported Sherin, he defiantly left the congress. As a result, there was only one candidate on the ballot, nominated by the supreme council of the party – the head of the LDPR faction in the State Duma, Leonid Slutsky.
When the voting procedure began, the long-awaited command to launch the media sounded, and everyone rushed to the assembly hall. The journalists surrounded the ballot box, which was approached in turn by the delegates. Before dropping a ballot into it, almost every politician showed it to the camera, correcting his right to the secrecy of voting. Everywhere there was a tick in favor of Slutsky. One of his most zealous supporters shouted the ambiguous slogan: “One leader, one party.”
Slutsky was supported not only by the congress delegates, but also by the children of Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Naturally, Igor Lebedev, who does not live in Russia and changed his name to David Garcia, was not at the congress. But two other children – son Oleg Edelstein and daughter Anastasia – spoke from the podium.
“For me, Slutsky is a real Russian man. Honest, fair. And the work will show how he will show himself as chairman of the party, ”Oleg, Zhirinovsky’s son, addressed the congress delegates.
Anastasia also thanked Slutsky for the efficiency and dignity with which he organized the work of the party after the death of Zhirinovsky.
Slutsky sets trends
At about 13:00 Moscow time, deputy Yaroslav Nilov announced the results of the vote from the podium: the party unanimously supported the election of Slutsky to the post of chairman. Immediately after that, a video was shown on the big screen with a cut of Zhirinovsky’s speeches, in each of which he praised Slutsky. Then the newly elected leader himself took the floor.
In his speech, he immediately outlined several important points that will now become the dogmas of the renewed party. First of all, the LDPR will remain an opposition but constructive party.
“Where we strongly disagree with the position of the country’s leadership, we will talk about our position. And I’m sure they will listen to her. And where we coincide, we will rejoice in it. Because it is an association of people around common sense. <…> And we will not go under any officials. On the contrary, they will listen to our arguments, and we will continue to implement the position we have taken in the interests of the country,” the new leader outlined the position of the party in the political system.
The main tasks of the party at the moment, Slutsky called support for the Russian military operation in Ukraine, the fight against the Bologna education system and preparation for the upcoming elections. He also mentioned the dream of the late Zhirinovsky, which the Liberal Democratic Party is going to realize – the construction of the Russian world and the preservation of Russian culture and language.
He said that the 40 days of mourning showed how the party is able to rally in difficult times. Today’s unanimous result in the most important vote for the Liberal Democratic Party is the clearest example of this.
“In the space of the Liberal Democratic Party, no one is allowed and will not be able to draw artificial dividing lines. Therefore, we will now support regional branches more powerfully. They will feel the support of the central apparatus every week and month. This is what the modification of the practical line of the party will consist of, which I have been pursuing for more than a day,” the elected leader assured.
Slutsky also added that there are many strong leaders in the Liberal Democratic Party and they cannot always get along with each other, but each individually is devoted to the party and speaks from their professional positions. Slutsky himself is used to surrounding himself with strong people. The main thing is that they can unite. An example of this was the party cell in the Rostov region, where, shortly before the congress, he personally settled all internal contradictions.
Any conflicts in other regional branches will also be easily settled, Slutsky is convinced. That is why the first three actions within the LDPR will be a briefing, a meeting of the supreme council immediately after the congress, and a meeting of representatives of all regional departments. It is there that important issues will be decided collegially. For example, the transfer of Zhirinovsky’s Duma mandate and the appointment of “locomotives” in the regional party lists. By the way, earlier Zhirinovsky himself acted as such a “locomotive”. Therefore, many expect Slutsky to continue this practice.
The newly-minted head of the party did not bypass Sherin’s public trick that occurred at the congress.
“Who knows, maybe if Alexander Nikolaevich Sherin had not violated our internal party agreement, we would even have withdrawn Vladimir Volfovich’s mandate in the State Duma when 40 days had passed. Maybe today he would have received a different number of votes. But it turned out how it happened, ”Slutsky added meaningfully.
To thunderous applause, he ended his speech with the slogan “Zhirinovsky forever”, as if showing that not only the memory of the late leader lives on, but his name was immortalized in the updated party program.
Liberal Democratic Party or Zhirinovsky’s Party?
As the Daily Storm learned, the idea of including Zhirinovsky’s name in the name of the party was discussed at the congress. This idea is supported by the son of Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Oleg Edelstein.
“Unfortunately, I could not understand why my father kept trying to share his name with the Liberal Democratic Party. Now I understand why he did it. And the idea of renaming the party – by the way, I also wanted to propose it. Everything is very simple. We are all liberal democrats, but not everyone still understands what this means. But everyone knows who Zhirinovsky is – it’s honest, fair and forever, ”he said at the closed part of the congress.
The name of Zhirinovsky is indeed going to be not only immortalized, but also used as a powerful weapon. One of the congress participants told a story that took place six months before the death of the ex-leader of the party.
“Six months before his death, approximately before the autumn elections, Zhirinovsky said at a regular meeting that one must understand that he will die someday. “It will inevitably happen. Therefore, when this happens and you will speak in the elections, rename the party to “LDPR – Zhirinovsky,” the leader of the Liberal Democrats said. “And you will be enough for another five years,” the party member recalled.
He also added that Zhirinovsky’s funeral on April 8 produced “an unprecedented furor and response from the people.” Even former Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov was not buried like that. Therefore, now everyone in the party is counting on this rise to be enough for them for half a year and they will have time to at least “grab the tail of this outgoing comet.”
Zhirinovsky’s ex-adviser Sergei Zhigarev explained that it really makes sense to rename the party. After all, many people in the regions come to the polling station and ask not “Where is the LDPR here?”, But “Where is Zhirinovsky here?”
“Today, the name Zhirinovsky is a more popular brand than the Liberal Democratic Party. When the party was created, it was possible to understand a lot. There was the Liberal Democratic Party. Are we liberal today? No. Democratic? I don’t think, ”Zhigarev stated the essence.
Therefore, it is necessary to focus more attention on the personality of the leader famous throughout the country, the party believes. Plus, the Liberal Democrats already had a similar experience. In 1999, the Liberal Democratic Party was not allowed to vote, and Zhirinovsky himself formed the Zhirinovsky Bloc, since then the law allowed it.
Thus, the issue with the “locomotive” in the regional elections will also disappear. With the new name “Zhirinovsky’s Party” it will not matter which of the politicians to put first on the party lists.
Will the intra-party struggle continue in the future?
Alexander Sherin’s demarche showed that not everything is so smooth within the party so far. According to the ex-adviser of Zhirinovsky, Sergei Zhigarev, it was because of this that part of the congress was closed. He said that during the meeting, a flurry of criticism fell upon Sherin, so they decided not to promote him in the media and not raise his rating, making him a victim. But if Sherin had simply not been allowed to attend the meeting, then there would have been a scandal.
Zhigarev assured that the “troublemaker” had set the whole party against himself in recent days, so even if Sherin had been given the opportunity to compete with Slutsky for the leadership seat, no one would have voted for him. And, according to him, there is no need to worry about Sherin, you just need to wait. His term as a member of the high council ends in December. Nobody will re-elect him. And then it will be possible to exclude him as an ordinary party member.
So far, no serious personnel decisions have been made, and, probably, Leonid Slutsky, as the leader of the party, in this case will rely on the collegial decision of the supreme council. And in such a period of transformation, it is possible that the inner-party struggle may continue.
Who will get Zhirinovsky’s mandate?
Although Slutsky said that the supreme council would decide the issue of transferring the mandate of the former leader, potential successors are already being called on the sidelines. Sherin, of course, dropped out of the list. The participants of the congress name the mentioned Sergey Zhigarev and ex-deputy Andrey Svintsov as the most suitable candidates.
Zhigarev refused to comment on his candidacy to the Daily Storm, but explained the essence of the whole procedure for appointing a new deputy.
“It can be any candidate for deputies of this convocation, who was registered in the lists. Therefore, the Supreme Council must make a decision by May 31. If he does not make this decision, then this decision is submitted to the CEC. And then they hand over the mandate to the LDPR candidate who had the largest constituency and the largest number of people who voted in that constituency. In this case, it will be Andrey Svintsov,” the potential candidate summed up.
