Penza, 20 September 2016. PenzaNews. The first secretary of the Communists’ regional committee, member of the Legislative Assembly of the Penza region Georgy Kamnev said that the Communists are unhappy with the results of the elections to the State Duma, but they are optimistic and ready to continue the political struggle against their ideological opponents.

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“Of course, we are unhappy with the election results. We hoped, and polls showed, across the country as well as, that we will have better results. But it did not happen, so now our task is to analyze what happened in these elections, and take appropriate action,” the Communist leader in Penza commented on Tuesday, September 20.

He noted that the results of elections in the State Duma of Russia will be one of the main topics during the plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party in October.

“The assessment of what is happening will be given there,” Georgy Kamnev said.

Asked whether he agrees that Dmitry Filyaev, who ran in the 147 th district, was the so-called “technical candidate” and originally did not have a chance of winning, the deputy of the Legislative Assembly gave several facts that characterize the first secretary of the city committee of the Communist Party as a staunch fighter for the ideals of communism, not a statistician to advance the role assigned to him.

“What do you mean”technical”? Dmitry O. [Filyaev] is the first secretary of the city committee of the Communist Party. He has been a party member since he was 18 years old, quite a famous person, a teacher, he is well known in the pedagogical community. I held 170 meetings with voters, he did 60. He actively fought, he traveled around the areas. He had a good propaganda material. So it is weird hearing that [Dmitry] Filyaev was a “technical candidate.” [...] And in the current coordinate system, let's say, after September 18, he scored as much and the party,” the first secretary of the Communist’s regional committee of explained his point of view.

In addition, he expressed the view that Dmitry Filyaev was the only alternative to “the candidate of the government,” Leonid Levin, who ran in the same district representing “The Just Russia.”

“Filyaev was the only real alternative to the government candidate - [Leonid] Levin was the candidate of the government. Despite the fact that he was formally nominated by “The Just Russia” — we understand this very well — that in fact, he was the candidate of the government. This only underscores the absolute cooperation of “United Russia” and “The Just Russia” in this election,” Georgy Kamnev said, reminding that there was another non-local candidate, but he received only 1.5%.

“It is silly talking about [Vasily] Melnichenko, because it was more likely an attempt to make a PR project that failed. He is non-local, has nothing to with the Penza region, comes here from time to time on short visits. And, well, accordingly, he received close to nothing. Filyaev sharply criticized both Levin and the current government, “United Russia,” he added.

Commenting on the information that the Communists of the Penza region will be represented in the State Duma by the head of the All-Russian Women's Union “Hope of Russia” Tamara Pletneva, Georgy Kamnev called her an experienced person.

“Tamara [Pletneva] is an experienced person, she headed the regional list. I hope that she will work in the State Duma just as fruitful as the previous convocations,” the agency interlocutor said.

At the same time Georgy Kamnev stressed that he and his team have a lot of work to do in the territory of the Penza region.

“I can say that I will continue working in the Penza region fulfilling the tasks imposed by the electors during this campaign. If the party nominates me again [as a candidate for the State Duma], maybe then people of the region will support my candidacy. We will see. [...] My team, which has formed long ago, worked effectively in these elections. I can point out that, for example, that we won over Esyakov [the “United Russia” candidate who won in district No. 146] in seven polling stations. In eight more stations we had a small gap in several votes, maybe half a dozen, two dozen votes. [...] There we were able to come very close to the result of the candidate from the ruling party,” he added, pointing out that his team used a new technique working with voters, which “proved to be more effective and efficient than that of the authorities.”

In addition, Penza Communist leader said that in the near future, there will start the preparations for the elections to the Legislative Assembly of the Penza region to be held on September 10, 2017.

“I think we are gathering the plenum in October, where approximate district candidates will be determined. Everything will depend on how they work until July next year, when the conference on the nomination of candidates to the Legislative Assembly will be held. If these candidates are worthy, they will be nominated. Since the decision on the preliminary candidates will be made jointly today, I believe they will go the distance honorably, and many of them will win the elections,” Georgy Kamnev said.

“We do not lose heart anyway, we continue to work, and I would say that we were able to take a lot from this parliamentary campaign, received great experience. A lot of things that have shown to be effective will be used in the future, and I hope will affect the result. Therefore, we are confident about the future, and do not give up. On the contrary, we are ready to continue the struggle. We will continue to work,” he said.