This year, as part of its election campaign, the United Russia party and the People’s Front decided to hold preliminary intra-party votes to choose candidates for election to the State Duma of the Russian Federation. I think this is an important initiative that will help the party and the People’s Front (Narodny Front) to evaluate the strengths of their candidates as the elections approach, while giving a broader circle of people the opportunity to take part in the State Duma elections and making the procedure of choosing candidates for the party election lists clear and transparent.

Given that I would like to continue working in the State Duma, there was no question as to whether I should take part in the primaries, because the primaries are now mandatory for anyone who wants to be elected to the 6th Duma for the United Russia party. And since I want to be elected from the Republic of Tatarstan, I decided to take part in the primaries in that republic – I spoke in the Nurlat, Almetyevsk, Bugulmin, Nizhnekamsk and Naberezhnye Chelny districts.

The primaries are an unusual format, because you have 3 minutes to convince 300 electors (who cast votes for one of the candidates) to support you. I had lots to say, of course, but the problem was how to squeeze it all into 3 minutes. So much has been achieved during my years in the Duma and I wanted to tell people about everything: about the day-to-day work with people’s pleas for help, about getting various facilities in Tatarstan and a number of other regions included under federal programmes, and my other initiatives. In virtually every district where I spoke I tried to visit the local sports amenities, to meet the local residents and take a look at the town and how the people there live. So for me, the primaries were also an opportunity to learn more about the Republic of Tatarstan, its towns and villages. And I was really pleased too see that it’s not only the capital city that’s well provided for, but also many other towns and districts across the Republic. It’s obvious that each district is being run by someone who loves and cares for his region – everything is clean and tidy and well organized. Besides Nurlat, I also spoke in other places, but the most enjoyable and exciting place for me, of course, was my very own Nizhnekamsk, which I’ve been representing now for almost 4 years, and I hope the voters there will let me continuing doing so. I’ve already managed to do a lot for that town, but there’s much still to be achieved. In particular, I really want to get a quick solution to the issue of resettling residents of the villages of Alan and Martysh – an environmental black spot that suffers from emissions from industrial plants located right next door.

So taking part in the primaries was valuable to me in every respect. On the one hand, it gave me an opportunity to report back to the voters on my work and to share my plans for the future if I’m re-elected to the Duma. On the other, I was able to travel all over the Republic and speak to people, visit various social and sports facilities and find out more about the successes and problems of the towns of Tatarstan. I love Tatarstan and very much want to continue being of assistance to the Republic and its people.

As I write this post I already know that I came 4th out of 117 candidates in the primaries. I’m really pleased and want to thank everyone for their support!