MOSCOW, November 8 (Itar-Tass) —— A deputy secretary of the United Russia General Council, Alexei Chesnakov, has described the appointment of Andrei Vorobyov, the leader of the party’s faction in the State Duma acting governor of the Moscow Region as an important and landmark event.
“This is a very important appointment. Vorobyov represents a new generation of politicians,” he told Itar-Tass. “On the one hand, he is rather young by political standards, but on the other he is experienced enough.”
“He knows all nuances of work at the State Duma level and at the level of the largest party in Russia, because he for a long time led its Central Committee and worked in business. This kind of experience is worth a great deal,” Chesnakov said.
He is certain that Vorobyov will be a worthy candidate in the 2013 gubernatorial election in the Moscow Region.
“He has worked as the chief of the Central Executive Committee during several election campaigns. He has sufficient capabilities and resources to win the forthcoming elections of the Moscow Region’s governor,” he said.
“What is most important, he has the skill of forming a political team and finding compromises even in the most difficult situations. The president made an absolutely precise choice in favor of a person who will be able to reconcile the rather complex task of running the region during the transitional period and in the longer term,” Chesnakov said.
All political parties planning to nominate their own candidates are certain that the just-appointed acting governor will participate in the election. In other words, the undeclared struggle for the governor’s seat has got underway already.
The first deputy leader of the Communist Party, Ivan Melnikov, has described the appointment of Vorobyov to that post as unexpected. He did not rule out that some larger political game may be involved. At the same time he believes that “Vorobyov will be a rather comfortable rival for the Communists, because he is not only a high-ranking functionary of Untied Russia, but a bright representative of the middle-aged managerial generation with purely capitalist mentality.”
“It is going to be a struggle of policies, of styles and of outlooks. The authorities’ administration of elections will certainly get worse,” Melnikov said.
State Duma Speaker Igor Lebedev, of the Liberal Democrat Party, has said that the Liberal Democrats are prepared to discuss with United Russia the nomination of a common candidate in the Moscow Region’s gubernatorial election.
“Possibly, such an invitation will follow,” he believes.
United Russia has responded to the comments by potential candidates with understanding.
“Apparently, Melnikov feels annoyed over such a good candidate. It is obvious that the Moscow Region needs a young, energetic politician. In the Communist Party there is no such personality and they keep hiring this or that businessman and youth to somehow demonstrate their bench of candidates,” Chesnakov said.