IZHEVSK, November 7 (Itar-Tass) — Izhevsk’s territorial election commission has fixed violation of the election legislation by Denis Agashin, a prominent United Russia member and the local administration head in Izhevsk, who made his funding-for-votes statement at the meeting with veterans.
A video posted on the Internet at the end of October showed Agashin telling an audience of elderly people that future funding for veteran organizations will depend on votes the ruling party wins in December's parliamentary elections. He promised that in those districts where United Russia gets from 51 percent to 54 percent of votes veteran organizations' departments will be paid 500,000 roubles and where the party wins over 60 percent – more than 1 million roubles.
Soon after this the two parties – the Communist Party and the Patriots of Russia – filed a complaint to the Central Election Commission, the Prosecutor-General’s Office and the Investigation Committee. Opposition members demanded that a criminal case against the senior official should be instituted for “obstructing observance of voting rights.” The communists also insisted on the administration head’s resignation.
The chair of the territorial election commission of Izhevsk’s Leninsky district, Valentina Rylova, told Itar-Tass that “a complaint for the senior official’s actions was considered and Agashin’s actions constituted an offense under the article on the election campaigning by persons who are banned from doing this by the federal law.”
She noted that the decree’s wording is being prepared and will be issued to a claimant on November 8. The documents on this case have not been handed over to police yet.
Agashin said he had made such a proposal to veterans at his own initiative.
The United Russia leadership, in turn, promised to clear up the case.
“If the offense is determined, we will, of course, make very serious conclusions in relation to this person,” the secretary of the ruling party’s General Council presidium, Sergei Neverov, said in an online interview on Thursday.
Meanwhile, on Sunday a video was posted on the Internet showing the head of administration of the President and the Government of the Republic of Udmurtia, Alexander Goryainov, at the meeting with taxi drivers in the town of Glazov, where he made clear that road repairs depend on the voting results of United Russia at the upcoming elections.
“The town of Sarapul received 30 million roubles for the roads and pavements this summer, the town of Glazov – 10 million. At the previous elections we ourselves refused these 20 million roubles,” he said explaining that it is United Russia that controls different projects.