Conference of Putin’s party to restore the popularity

Russia will hold parliamentary elections in September. The United Russia party, led by President Vladimir Putin’s party, has lost ground for some reasons, including cracking down on dissent before the election. The party held a conference in the capital, Moscow, on Saturday in Putin’s presence to try to find a way to win the hearts and minds of voters.

“Our party will turn 20 next December,” Putin said at the conference. At this time, we have to move forward unitedly with the supporters as the biggest political force in a big country like Russia. We have to celebrate our achievements with the field-level workers.

Putin has been Russia’s prime minister or president since 1999. Opponents of the once-popular leader are gaining ground. Alexei Navalny is the main face of Putin’s opponents in the country. He is accused of plotting to assassinate Putin. A Russian court has sentenced Navalny to two-and-a-half years in prison for embezzling funds. Navalny, however, said there was a political motive behind the allegations.

This is not the end. Earlier this month, a Moscow court ordered the closure of Navalny’s party with “extremist” tags. Shortly afterward, Putin blocked members, officials, and financiers of extremist political parties in the parliamentary elections.

Analysts say Putin is wielding a sword against the opposition ahead of the election as his popularity plummets. Putin’s party, the United Party, now has a majority in the Duma. However, there are fears that the Corona epidemic will continue to erode due to economic challenges, widespread corruption, and other reasons.

According to a recent poll by Russia’s state-run VTSIOM ahead of the conference, United Russia now has only 30 percent of the electorate. Compared to the 2016 elections, the political party’s support has decreased by 10 percent per voter.

Dmitry Medvedev, chairman of United Russia, said: “We (the United Russia party) are very popular among voters. Medvedev is a close ally of Putin. He has previously served as Russia’s president and prime minister, taking turns with Putin.

However, despite the decline in United Russia’s popularity, 61.5 percent of the country’s voters still support Putin, according to VTSIOM. As a result, analysts say the party will have to use Putin’s charisma to win the next election. However, VTSIOM predicts that Russia’s opposition parties could win up to 30 percent of the upcoming elections. Putin is largely free of pressure in this election by imprisoning Navalny and shutting down his party’s activities.

Not only Navalny, but Putin has also put pressure on other opponents before the election. Former opposition lawmaker Dmitry Gadkav wanted to run in the by-elections. But this month, he moved to Ukraine. He said sources close to the Kremlin had told him he would be arrested if he did not leave the country. For this, he has left the country.

Although Gadakov could, many could not leave the country. An old case has been activated against Andrei Pivorov, the former leader of anti-Putin Open Russia. He has been arrested. Police have arrested St. Petersburg municipal lawmaker Maxim Reznik and Moscow’s Ketvan Kharaidje. They all announced to contest the parliamentary elections.