The Big Five: what Putin talked about with the leaders of the parties that entered parliament

Vladimir Putin drew a line under the main political event of the year on September 28. Two days before the first meeting of the new State Duma, the President met with the leadership of the parliamentary factions and the head of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova. The past campaign, despite unprecedented external pressure, missile strikes on the border and 28 million cyber attacks, confirmed the absolute maturity of society and the legitimacy of the government. At a meeting with the leaders of the five parliamentary parties that have retained their representation in the State Duma, the president supported all their key initiatives, from strict control over utility tariffs to combating migration chaos and bureaucratic formalism, making it clear that the voice of every voter will become the basis of the policy of the new convocation of parliament.

Plans of political parties for the new convocation

Vladimir Putin dedicated the beginning of the working week to the topic of domestic politics: on September 28, he met in the Kremlin with the leaders of political parties that have received mandates to the State Duma of the IX convocation. The five winners, who had recently been opponents in the election race, gathered at the table. The campaign was held at a high level and demonstrated the maturity of the Russian political system in the face of external pressure, the president stated.

— When I looked at the queues at polling stations on TV screens, I was once again convinced that our people are strong, courageous, literate, and everyone understands perfectly well what is happening around Russia. And it became clear that it would not be possible to intimidate such people, and it was impossible to defeat such people, such a country. Therefore, victory will certainly be ours," Vladimir Putin stressed.

The first speaker was Gennady Zyuganov, an old-timer of the parliament, the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, whose faction was reduced by 20 people following the results of the last elections. His speech was traditionally the most voluminous, going deep into history, but he still turned to the party's program. First of all, he called for grain purchases to be made to the state reserve at fixed prices, and also spoke emotionally about housing and communal services tariffs.

— I've been living in Moscow for forty years, Andropov also gave me an apartment. But now they've brought me a "fat" for 30 thousand! As long as I'm a deputy, I'm able to pay. But we need to think about people, since October 1, housing and communal services have been growing again," he said.

A similar problem was raised by LDPR leader Leonid Slutsky, whose faction increased by two mandates. He even proposed to create a separate federal agency for housing and communal services. Commenting on utility bills, the President stressed that tariffs must be not only economically reasonable, but also socially restrained, commensurate with the real incomes of the population.

At the meeting, they couldn't help but recall the name of the founding father of the party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who would have turned 80 in 2026.

— Of course, we miss him, especially in modern conditions. It's a pity that he left. It's a pity," the president said.

"Vladislav" Davankov from "New People" called for a tough fight against bureaucratic formalism, handing over to the president an appeal for a Chelyabinsk family with 12 children who have not been able to receive the status of a "Heroine Mother" for two years due to disputes over registration.

New developments in the State Duma

According to the CEC, "United Russia" receives 349 mandates (25 more than in the previous convocation, and this is again a constitutional majority). The Communist Party of the Russian Federation will occupy 37 seats in parliament, the Liberal Democratic Party — 23. The representation of "New People" has grown from 15 to 19 seats. And the "Fair Russia" faction was reduced from 27 to 17 mandates, almost flying out of parliament. The "Rodina" party also has one mandate (due to the victory in the district of Alexei Zhuravlev, who may join the LDPR faction), and 4 more for self—nominated candidates.

""Alexander Babakov, first deputy chairman of A Just Russia For Truth (representing Sergei Mironov, who was undergoing rehabilitation after an injury sustained during an election trip), noted that inter-party discord has been removed in matters of support for his party and everyone acts as "members of one big party of Russia."

Dmitry Medvedev, chairman of the "United Russia" party, concluded the series of speeches by emphasizing the readiness of the parliamentary majority to work constructively with all factions in order to achieve the main goals of the country.

Vyacheslav Volodin is likely to lead the State Duma along this path again. Both the President of Russia and the heads of the parties support his candidacy.

Political expert Alexandra Bokova stressed that following the meeting of the head of state with representatives of the parties, it is clearly visible how the distance between the factions competing for the status of the main opposition has narrowed. No one has a margin of safety except "United Russia". At the same time, the consensus on the SVR in the new convocation will certainly remain, but the key rivalry will unfold on the internal agenda, where it is vital for the opposition to demonstrate its difference from the majority party.

How the system fought back against external attacks

Vladimir Putin discussed the results of the large-scale election campaign at a meeting with the head of the Central Election Commission of Russia, Ella Pamfilova. This was her third election to the State Duma. The interlocutors were unanimous in recognizing the success of the last campaign. The turnout in the elections turned out to be a record for the last three campaigns — 59.8%, in total more than 67.4 million Russians voted.

For the next five years, the lower house will receive a significant representation of its veterans. More than 10% of the deputies of the ninth convocation are 46 people, 41 of whom represent "United Russia" — participants in a special military operation. At the same time, the new parliament has become somewhat younger: the average age of deputies is 53 years old compared to 57 in the previous convocation.

The focus of the conversation quickly shifted to election security, because the electoral process involved a real risk to the lives of election commission staff. According to Pamfilova, 75 commission buildings were damaged or destroyed in 11 regions as a result of missile strikes and UAV attacks by the "agonizing bandera-bandit regime," and six election commission employees were killed during the campaign. But the victims were courageously replaced by their loved ones. There have also been cases of targeted threats to the families and children of TEC members.

The President thanked the staff of the commissions at all levels for their courage and heroism. Ella Pamfilova called the Russian electoral system extremely strong and mobilized.

— People, as I say, are flint! No one was confused, no one succumbed to any panic. We conducted this entire campaign calmly and with dignity," stated the CEC Chairman.

The steadfastness of the election organizers nullified all attempts at external interference. At the same time, the CEC itself "does not look back" at the predictably negative assessments of the West. The relocators' plans to disrupt the vote by calling for mass spoilage of ballots failed — the share of invalid forms within the country barely exceeded 1.36%. Having failed to influence people at the polling stations, the enemy shifted the blow to the digital sphere: it was cyberspace that became the key arena of confrontation.

— Such a record with a minus sign, an anti—record, is a cyber, I would say, an escalation of unprecedented cyber aggression. It would seem that during the presidential election we had an unprecedented level, but now they have surpassed themselves: 28 million potentially dangerous impacts on our digital resources of the Central Election Commission during the election campaign, and during election day — over 14.7 million serious cyber threats, as well as 13 waves of targeted DDoS attacks with a total duration of 468 minutes, — the head of the Central Election Commission provided the data.

The elections of the ninth convocation of the State Duma clearly demonstrated the maturity of the entire state system: despite unprecedented military, informational and technological pressure from outside, Russia has convincingly proved the sovereignty of its institutions. The impeccable legitimacy of the established authorities and the high civic engagement of Russians have drawn a clear line under attempts to disrupt the electoral process — the system has not only survived, but also become stronger.