Rthe decision that the deputy speaker of the State Duma from the LDPR Igor Lebedev will not participate in the elections was taken by the party leader, sources say RBC. It was preceded by a conflict over personnel appointments
Igor Lebedev
Deputy Speaker of the State Duma from the LDPR Igor Lebedev, who announced that he was suspending participation in the political life of the country and would not run for the next parliament, did so because of a protracted conflict with his father Vladimir Zhirinovsky. This was told to RBC by two interlocutors in the State Duma and a source close to the Kremlin.
Lebedev and Zhirinovsky have long had disagreements that concerned both financial issues and the development of the party, the appointment of people to party and Duma posts, two interlocutors in the parliament told RBC.
As an example of a serious misunderstanding, the interlocutors of RBC cite the situation when Zhirinovsky, who holds the post of head of the LDPR Duma faction, decided to raise the status of State Duma deputy Vasily Vlasov.
After being elected to parliament in 2016, Vlasov became the youngest deputy of the convocation-at that time he was 21 years old. In different years, he was the deputy head of the Moscow youth organization of the LDPR, an assistant to Zhirinovsky and the head of his reception, the head of the Moscow youth organization of the party, then the All-Russian Youth Organization of the LDPR.
Having been elected to the Duma on the Moscow list of the party, Vlasov became an ordinary member of the Committee on physical culture, sports, tourism and youth affairs. In 2019, the young deputy was appointed the first deputy chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources, Property and Land Relations, and in March 2021 he became the first deputy head of the LDPR Duma faction.
Lebedev was against the appointment of Vlasov and tried to challenge the decision at a meeting of the supreme council of the party, but without success, says an interlocutor in parliament. Zhirinovsky showed that “he is the owner of the house”. According to a Duma source, the conflict over Vlasov’s promotion became a kind of trigger that overlapped with other disagreements, and played a role in the decision that Lebedev would not run for the State Duma of the next convocation. The decision on Lebedev’s non-participation in the elections was initially made by Zhirinovsky, the parliamentary interlocutor of RBC clarified and confirmed a source close to the Kremlin.
“Igor Vladimirovich (Lebedev), and a large number of people in the party were against the appointment of Vlasov. But Zhirinovsky decided so. As they say, the sheriff does not care about the problems of the Indians. So there was a conflict, and a big one, ” a source close to the party told RBC.
At the LDPR pre-election congress held on June 25, Vlasov was included in the federal part of the party’s list at number 6. Being in the federal part of the list guarantees passage to the State Duma if the party overcomes the 5% barrier.
Igor Lebedev, when asked by RBC for comment, said: “Everything I wanted to say, I said on my Facebook page. The rest is rumors and gossip, which I will not comment on.
The press service of the LDPR, when asked about the conflict between Zhirinovsky and Lebedev, said: “This is not so. Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky commented on this decision of Lebedev (about his refusal to run for the State Duma). He wished him good luck and thanked him for decades of joint work. Igor Vladimirovich now has other projects that he intends to engage in, and the LDPR will always support him in new beginnings.
Deputy Vlasov told RBC that there are no conflicts in the LDPR, but there are different points of view: At the supreme council (when the question of a candidate for the post of the first deputy head of the faction was discussed), Vladimir Volfovich offered his candidates, Igor Vladimirovich— others, there was a large list. We have different positions, but we find understanding. According to Vlasov, he had a working relationship with Lebedev: “He is a professional and a politician with a capital letter.”
Igor Lebedev announced his refusal to be elected to the State Duma of the next convocation on the morning of June 25 before the start of the LDPR congress. “My decision is not spontaneous, but was thought over for several months and, of course, agreed with the party. I will not take part in this year’s election campaign. It’s been a wonderful 20 years, it’s timeit’s time to move on!!!”The deputy wrote on his Facebook page. Lebedev addressed separate words of gratitude to Zhirinovsky: “It was only thanks to him that I became who I am now, and got the opportunity to hold such a high position as Deputy Chairman of the supreme legislative authority of our country.”