People say all sorts of things in the heat of election debates. Take, for example, the debate between Zhirinovsky and Khinshtein before the 2011 election. Start watching at the 49-minute mark.
So, we have a completely clear and explicit public promise from United Russia deputies Khinshtein, Barinov, and Grishankov (who is no longer a deputy) to push for the ratification of Article 20 of the UN Convention against Corruption.
Excellent. We can now mark down another two United Russia deputies in our favor on the State Duma map. Let’s send additional letters to Khinshtein and Barinov asking them to support our bill.
In addition, I can report that we have launched a sub-project to submit our bill to the legislative assemblies of all federal subjects of the Russian Federation. The regions also have the right of legislative initiative, and we are working to ensure that every region holds a vote on introducing our bill.
The pilot project is underway in St. Petersburg, where ACF St. Petersburg has launched an excellent platform that lets you write to your regional deputy about #Twenty. And there is already a group of deputies — many thanks to them — led by Maxim Reznik, who have submitted the necessary proposal.
It should be quite an interesting vote, given that Makarov, the United Russia speaker of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly, has publicly stated that he supports ratifying Article 20 and combating illicit enrichment.
We will do the same in every region, especially since almost everywhere there are, at a minimum, deputies from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and A Just Russia who actively support ratification.
If you know a deputy in your region’s legislative assembly — or if you are one yourself — then get involved, and remember: on this issue, 87% of Russian citizens are on our side.
The #Twenty campaign must not stop for a single day, no matter what.