Remember how Ella Pamfilova said: “Administrative resources must under no circumstances be used in elections”? She also promised harsh punishment for anyone who did. She keeps repeating that now.
We have assembled ironclad evidence showing how a United Russia candidate is using administrative resources in the most blatant way. Pamfilova and the Central Election Commission must remove him from the race. This is a real test for them: will they protect this brazen Putin loyalist, or will they follow the law?
In the Babushkinsky district, Nikolai Lyaskin, an Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) staff member, is running. United Russia’s candidate is Emergency Situations Ministry officer Ivan Teterin. Here he is:
He is also the president of the State Fire Service Academy of the Emergency Situations Ministry:
The guy is not shy at all about using administrative resources: he holds meetings at social welfare offices and opens playgrounds on behalf of United Russia even though they were built with public funds:
But that’s not all. Teterin went even further. Remember how Senator Gattarov and Burmatov staged firefighting efforts? So what does a typical United Russia candidate do if he is running in the Babushkinsky district, where it is much harder to set something on fire and then put it out? Teterin’s Twitter feed is full of announcements like these:
The photo has the full package: cadets from the Emergency Situations Ministry academy, a fire engine, special equipment—everything appears in Teterin’s invitation. And here is that same fire engine already at the meetings:
The most absurd thing one could assume right now is that the president of the fire academy has nothing to do with the fire engine and Emergency Situations Ministry personnel at these meetings. But surely a parliamentary candidate cannot use his position this brazenly, you might ask, since a fire engine is supposed to fight fires. He can—because he is a candidate from the party of crooks. Watch the video to see how it works: this is direct campaigning.
Fire engines, with their flashing lights on, drive out to organize meetings with Teterin. Then those same vehicles circle the courtyard, using their sirens to summon people to the event. Naturally, any normal person would think there is a fire in the building. But no—it is just a crooked candidate holding his campaign meeting. The law explicitly prohibits the use of administrative resources; it is grounds for cancelling a candidate’s registration:
More than 30 such meetings have already taken place, confirming repeated abuse of official position. Nikolai Lyaskin has already filed a complaint with Ella Pamfilova; it will be reviewed tomorrow. Lyaskin was not even invited to the preliminary review, while Teterin’s representatives claimed that there was no campaigning at these “Safety Days” events:
Tomorrow we will find out whether Ella Pamfilova is really prepared to fight the abuse of administrative resources, or whether this is just more empty talk.
Update:
Now we also have ironclad documentary evidence that Teterin used his official position.
In other words, the document explicitly states that “Safety Day” is an event organized by the Emergency Situations Ministry academy, and that Teterin attends it in his capacity as the academy’s president. The video proves that Teterin is campaigning at these events.