And Now the Hard Part… Time For Presidential Candidates to Approach the People For Blessing
And back to Russia. Next Monday, Putin's campaign office will submit the required signatures. Despite today being a weekend, the other candidates went campaigning.
Dmitry Petrov with the details.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky: "Quickly, instantly, and for you".
A half an hour stop. The train station is packed. The LDPR campaign train comes to the village of Glazunovka often. The previous visit was a month ago, but the locals always give Zhirinovsky a warm welcome.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, LDPR candidate: "We need to change the government, elect a new president, and bring order. We need new governors, judges, and police officers. We need to hire those that are honest, new, and young".
The next stop is in Kursk. Zhirinovsky introduced his platform to the students of the local university. He then proceeded to visit a random apartment in a local apartment house. Zhirinovsky didn't like the apartment of an ordinary, elderly Kursk resident. However, he enjoyed the student canteen and especially the prices — a full meal for just 50 rubles.
- I'd like fish, please.
- Would you like it baked or fried?
- Fried fish with potatoes, please.
In Ingushetia, Ksenia Sobchak visited the Memorial Complex to the Victims of Repression. The memorial, which consists of nine towers, was opened on February 23, 1997, on the day of the 53rd anniversary of the deportation of the Ingush and other ethnicities of the USSR.
Ksenia Sobchak, Civil Initiative candidate: "If we recall those events more often then, perhaps, some government officials will stop calling Stalin an 'effective manager.' Here's the effectiveness of his management".
KPRF is holding its third plenary session in January. The primary focus is on the fight against corruption.
Gennady Zyuganov, leader of KPRF: "Our criminal law must have an option of confiscating property for felonies. In specific cases, the property of close relatives must also be confiscated. And we must finally ratify Article 20 of the United Nations Convention. Containing capital outflow will help us curb corruption. Russia loses 50-70 billion dollars annually".
KPRF candidate Pavel Grudinin has an idea how to stop the outflow. He proposes to nationalize the largest banks. In general, he's prepared a whole set of measures.
Pavel Grudinin, KPRF candidate: "We must create a special body supervised by the President call it "the National Bureau for Fighting Corruption" and make it accountable to the President and the State Council that must also be created. It must be a suprapartisan, supranational body and have a vast variety of powers. It must have power over everything, and it must even check the president".
Zyuganov also spoke about the 100th anniversary of the Great October Revolution.
Gennady Zyuganov: "This anniversary has reminded us that the Great Revolution embodied the eternal dream of the working people. 1917 marked the beginning of mankind's transition to socialism. The people of labor became the masters of their Motherland and were ready for a military and labor feat in the name of their homeland, in the name of justice and peace."
The leader of the KPRF also commented on the recent decision of the CEC regarding illegal agitation. Earlier in Novosibirsk, the circulation of the newsletter Pravda was withdrawn. The CEC decided that the material published in the newsletter was almost indistinguishable from the official propaganda material that Grudinin had provided to the CEC. The issue of Pravda was not paid by the candidate's election fund and had no publication data.
Maxim Suraykin, the leader of the Communists of Russia party, spent the weekend in St. Petersburg with his comrades. The residents invited him to assess the renovation of Murinsky Park. They were afraid that construction workers would dig up and destroy the evidence of Leningrad's heroic defense during World War 2.
Maxim Suraykin, Communists of Russia candidate: "It's not just a pile of concrete, it's our memory of the city's heroic fight against the Nazi invaders. The entire construction project is in complete disarray. In order to reach the construction site, we had to get knee-deep in the mud. But coming here to inspect it was our duty, we had to bring attention to the issue".
Candidate Polishuk didn't forget about his health in the heat of the political fight. He came to the Moscow City Clinic №22 for a physical examination.
Stanislav Polishuk: "Recently, I had my wisdom tooth pulled out, but it still hurts. The pain shoots up here and my neck".
After visiting the clinic, Stanislav Polishuk had a clear understanding that our medical service is worse than in the UAE.
Stanislav Polishuk, Social Reform Party candidate: "The revenue from our natural resources must fund our medical service".
Grigory Yavlinsky was trying to comprehend the peculiarities of local administrative reforms in Mozhaysk, Moscow Oblast. The territories of several towns and villages were to be united against the residents' will.
Grigory Yavlinsky, Yabloko candidate: "Local government is the backbone of the Russian state. Russia begins where our people live, that's where the main issues are resolved, issues such as major repairs, laying pipes, and road construction".
Boris Titov, the leader of the Party of Growth, summoned his campaign office to check the signature collection process. His assistants traveled to 65 regions and gathered 130,000 signatures. Titov had no time to waste — he traveled to a new region every day.
Boris Titov, Party of Growth candidate: "People treat you differently when you're a presidential candidate. I see fewer businessmen and more people of different occupations and classes. Their problems are rather different. You learn more about the country".
The signature lists are filed and stored in vaults. Folders with the party logo have been prepared. Over the course of the Wednesday afternoon, the candidates must submit the signatures to the Central Electoral Commission. The CEC will check the documents and decide whether to register the candidates or not.
Dmitry Petrov, Andrey Chistyakov Dmitry Khrustalyov, Ilya Bayev, and Mikhail Devyatkin Vesti on Saturday.