Vladimir Putin during a visit to the electoral headquarters in Gostiny Dvor. Photo: Sergey Savostyanov/POOL/TASS
Vladimir Putin’s visit to his electoral headquarters in Gostiny Dvor was the first event of his election campaign. It took about two hours: during this time, the current head of state and at the same time a candidate for the highest position spoke with three co-presidents of the headquarters and also met with volunteers from the regions who are collecting signatures in his support. Everything took place without journalists, but after the meeting the participants shared their impressions.
LOAD OF POSITIVITY
After the event, the participants talked about the presidential candidate’s visit to Gostiny Dvor: the co-chairs of the election headquarters, the chief doctor of the 52nd Moscow Hospital Maryana Lysenko, the president of the Union of Theater Workers and the famous actor Vladimir. Mashkov and the Speaker of the DPR Parliament, Artem Zhoga, answered journalists’ questions together. They did not discuss specific issues that were resolved at the meeting. Rather, they shared their feelings and sensations from the experience.
President of the Union of Theater Workers Vladimir Mashkov, chief physician of the 52nd Moscow Hospital Maryana Lysenko and Speaker of the DPR Parliament Artem Zhoga answer journalists’ questions.
Photo: Vladimir DEMCHENKO
“Communication with Vladimir Vladimirovich always inspires me,” said Artem Zhoga. “He is always ready to listen, answers all questions competently and knowledgeably. This shows how he delves into all the problems and in all areas of activity not only at the headquarters, but throughout the country. He charges you with positivity and desire to work.
“It’s surprising how much people delve into technological processes,” says Maryana Lysenko. “At the same time, the president is very interested in receiving feedback. What do the people who come to the headquarters say, how do they feel about the promotion, what assignments they have, what worries us. Our candidate perceives what is happening in the country through the people.
– The President came to us after intense work, but his efficiency, attention, understanding, responsibility and sensitivity to current events are, of course, surprising. We didn’t have much time, but I think we managed to talk in detail about our internal problems and how to solve them… he responded to everything with a lot of emotion. And it seems to me that he had a very warm and sincere meeting with the volunteers.
USEFUL FOR THE HISTORY
For the volunteers, and this could be seen with the naked eye, the meeting with the Head of State became one of the most powerful experiences of their lives. For example, Mikhail Afonin, a medical student from Tambov, was sent for an internship at the Headquarters because of his activity at the signature collection point. He couldn’t even imagine that he would meet the president here.
“The impressions are simply incredible,” says the guy. “It is a great honor for me on behalf of our region to speak with a person of this level. The President inspires exceptional calm and confidence in the future.
Mikhail Afonin could not even imagine that he would meet with the president personally.
Photo: Vladimir DEMCHENKO
The meeting lasted just over an hour and more than 40 people attended. The conversation was almost one-sided: the presidential candidate asked and the boys answered.
“I told Vladimir Vladimirovich how many volunteers work at the headquarters,” continues Mikhail Afonin. – There are 600 of us here. In addition, he reported that an average of 200 signatures are collected per day at the Gostiny Dvor counter. He asked how we young people feel about ourselves. And I told him that his contribution to the development of the youth volunteer movement was colossal. Probably no other country has such a developed volunteer wing.
“The president was very interested in our work, not so much from a legal point of view but from a human point of view,” said volunteer Daniil Prokofiev from Nizhny Novgorod. “He asked what the people who signed supporting him said, what they had to explain. And we explain, apparently, the most basic thing. What are the signatures for, where will they go, how not to write so as not to reject the sheet. It happens that someone tries to write on the signature sheet something like “we don’t know any other candidate!” or “Putin is our president!” Because of such self-expressions, an entire sheet has to be rejected. But we put them in a separate folder, they will be useful for the story.
BY THE WAY
Signatures in support of Vladimir Putin will be submitted to the Central Election Commission next week
The co-chairs of the electoral headquarters also talked about how the collection of signatures in support of Vladimir Putin is developing.
– In Donbass they promised to collect a million signatures. Administered? – this question was addressed to Artem Zhoga.
“The collection of signatures in Donbass, as well as throughout the country, has not ended,” Zhoga responded. – I cannot give concrete figures for Donbass. But in total more than 2.5 million were raised throughout the country. And signatures continue to arrive from all regions.
“Sometimes guys collect signatures in extreme conditions,” said Maryana Lysenko. “This is due not only to a special military operation, but also to difficult weather conditions. We are trying to make sure that anyone has the opportunity to sign in support of our candidate. The collection of signatures according to the law continues until January 31. The date of submission of documents to the CEC has not yet been determined, most likely it will be closer to the middle of next week. Everything will be strictly within the framework of the law, our lawyers are now verifying the signature.
“We all know that the number of signatures in support of Vladimir Putin far exceeded the required norm,” Vladimir Mashkov added. – For a self-proclaimed candidate, only 315 thousand signatures can be presented, I think there will be a total of about 3 million. The signatures are verified and we have more than enough verified signatures. And that’s great!
