On Saturday, September 14, the Coordination Opposition Council had a meeting in Moscow. The powers of the council expire in October. The election of a new composition of this structure may not take place. Many well-known members of the Coordination Opposition Council stated about their probable refusal to continue working in the council. Aleksey Navalny’s refraining from comments on this issue makes the situation more intriguing, but it is not ruled out that he may continue to participate in the council ahead of the election in the Moscow City Duma.
There is no one to deal with the election, Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper noted. Head of the interregional union of voters Andrei Buzin, who was elected on July 20, refused to become the chairman of the election committee.
Leonid Volkov, who dealt with the election in the opposition parliament previous year and who later headed mayoral elexion office for Aleksey Navalny, also told the daily that he “will not work on this issue.”
Member of the Coordination Opposition Council Sergei Davidis explained that the question whether new election will be held at all and the issue of finding a candidature to be in charge of them will be settled at a meeting on Saturday. “There are some opinions that such format of work as the Coordination Opposition Council is not needed any longer. I do not know whether I will run in the election or not.”
The main intrigue remains whether Aleksey Navalny and several his associates will be willing to continue participating in the work of the Coordination Opposition Council. Experts are more inclined to a conclusion that the participation in the Coordination Opposition Council will be beneficial for Navalny ahead of election in the Moscow City Duma that is caused by the fact that the associates of the politician refrain from comments so far.
If Navalny runs for a seat in a new composition of the Coordination Opposition Council, it is not ruled out that he will not see anyone from his partners in the previous composition of the council. Members of the Coordination Opposition Council and several leaders of the nationalists Vladimir Tor and Konstantin Krylov did not confirm their participation in the election of a new line-up of the council yet. Members of the council Dmitry Gudkov, Yevgeniya Chirikova, Sergei Parkhomenko, Anna Karetnikova, Pyotr Tsarkov and others told the newspaper about their refusal to continue their participation in the structure.
Sources of the newspaper outlined the reasons for reluctance to participate in the future work of the Coordination Opposition Council. “The Coordination Opposition Council was needed to orchestrate the actions of the opposition and arrange the protest rallies,” Gudkov said. “The practice showed that it is possible to do it beyond it. Probably, is it better to focus on the election in the Moscow City Duma?” he said.
Pyotr Tsarkov gave the most sceptical forecast regarding the Coordination Opposition Council in an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily, “I do not believe that this agency, which brings together people with absolutely different political views, can be viable in general. I am disappointed with its work and is not convinced that new election will be held at all.”
Olga Romanova, Maxim Kats, Andrei Piontkovsky have quitted the Coordination Opposition Council before. Leonid Razvozzhayev, Aleksey Gaskarov, Daniil Konstantinov and Sergei Udaltsov will not be able to continue working in the council over criminal prosecution after them.
Deputy Director General of the Centre of Political Technologies Aleksey Makarkin noted that the election in a new composition of the Coordination Opposition Council will be more interesting than the previous election, “If other media people are absent Navalny’s influence, if he will have a seat there, will increase sharply, and the Coordination Opposition Council will be filled with his supporters, activists of his election staff and People’s Alliance.”