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Scandal fanned up over debauch onboard the airplane involving prominent United Russia party functionary

The incident occurred on Tuesday evening at the St. Petersburg airport, from where the deputy was to fly to Moscow

While the State Duma lower house of Russian parliament is considering a bill over tougher punishment for air hooligans, lawmaker, prominent United Russia party functionary Andrei Isayev turned out to be in the focus of the scandal that broke out onboard the airplane. Isayev’s aide was denied to board on the St. Petersburg-Moscow flight. In retaliation the lawmaker began crying on the stewardesses and threatening a dismissal to them. United Russia named this incident extremely unpleasant and pledged to give a serious party response to the incident. Chairman of the State Duma committee for labor and social policy, deputy secretary of the United Russia General Council applied for resignation from the post of the deputy secretary of the United Russia general council and suspended his membership in the presidium of the party’s general council.

The incident occurred on Tuesday evening at the St. Petersburg airport, from where the deputy was to fly to Moscow, Novye Izvestia daily reported. According to the passengers on the same flight they were waiting for a takeoff, when Isayev and his aide Aleksander Poglazov, 30, appeared. The lawmaker began shouting at the stewardesses and showing his deputy certificate to them. Confirming the words of the eyewitnesses a video was posted in the Internet where man quite resembling deputy Isayev is scolding with the staff of the air company and exclaims, “I am a representative of state power!” As a result the lawmaker and his aide were denied to board on the flight and the airplane departed with a 90-minute delay.

At first Andrei Isayev named his aide as a culprit of the incident, noting that he will be fired soon. Then he already decided to assume responsibility, “Realizing that the incident will have a negative impact on the authority of the United Russia party, I find it right to suspend my membership in the presidium of the party’s general council and to apply for resignation from the post of the deputy secretary of the party’s general council.

Secretary of the United Russia general council Sergei Neverov, who pledged that “the incident will not be left without a serious response from the party,” named Isayev’s decision as “absolutely right.”

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