In “United Russia” (ER) consultations began on the statements of a member of the faction, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma committee on CIS affairs, Konstantin Zatulin. About this “Vedomosti” said two sources within the party and an interlocutor close to the presidential administration.
Among the options for action being discussed is depriving Zatulin of the post of first deputy chairman of the State Duma committee and expelling him from United Russia, one of the sources said. The deputy is not a member of United Russia, but is a member of its faction.
A United Russia source reported that the faction’s first deputy leader, Vyacheslav Makarov, is dealing with the situation around Zatulin. One of Vedomosti’s interlocutors admits that the consultations will end only with the fact that the leadership of the faction will “talk” with the MP so that he continues to speak more accurately. An interlocutor close to the presidential administration declared that it was too early to speak about the measures which would be taken against the parliamentarian.
United Russia has long piled questions at Zatulin because of his statements, says a source within the United Russia faction. According to him, the claims arose during the discussion of the citizenship bill, which was presented by President Vladimir Putin at the end of 2021. In April 2023, Zatulin made changes which were not accepted and criticized the final version of the document.
A new reason for discussion was the statements of the deputy on the military operation in Ukraine, writes Vedomosti. June 1 Zatulin at the forum “What kind of Ukraine do we need?” declared that Russia is in a difficult situation when it is necessary to transfer “life to a war footing”.
“What were our officially declared objectives at the start of the military operation? You all remember the denazification, demilitarization, neutrality of Ukraine and the protection of the people of the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, who have suffered all this time. On which of these elements have we obtained results so far? Not one at a time,” Zatulin said in particular.
The MP’s statement was widely circulated online. Later Zatulin writing in his telegram channel that his words were taken out of context. “I talked about the fact that for the moment the objectives of the NWO, and really the war, have not been achieved. For what reason? Then, after that, say what must be done to achieve these objectives”, he pointed out.
Zatulin told Vedomosti that the faction leadership did not contact him about his speech at the forum. “Why can I lose my position on the committee or be expelled from the faction? The faction leadership didn’t tell me anything,” he said.
In the fall of 2021, United Russia expelled Yevgeny Marchenko from his single term, who did not support the draft budget, violating, according to United Russia, party discipline.
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