On 1 November, the Ethics Committee of Russia's ruling party, the United Russia, issued a formal appeal for the expulsion of Yevgeny Malchenko, a member of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. The reason for expelling comrades in the party was that Malchenko voted against the passage of the federal budget bill on first reading.
On October 28, the State Duma voted on the federal budget bills for 2022 and 2023-2024. Although the Duma passed the bill on first reading, Malchenko publicly voted against it, despite the unanimous decision of the United Russia Party.
Revenko, deputy secretary of the General Committee of the United Russia Party, made it clear that the party's MPs unanimously decided to support the budget on October 25, three days before the vote, when Malchenko did not raise any verbal or written objections, but at the time of the vote, Malchenko lawmakers violated the provisions of the United Russia Party Constitution and did not act in accordance with the decisions of the Party Central Committee.
Mr. Marchenko responded that he voted against because he was not allowed to ask questions while attending a meeting attended by Finance Minister Siluanov. First, he wanted to ask about funding a high-tech pediatric center in St. Petersburg.
Speaking about the offer to expel him, Malchenko said he would not challenge the decision because it doesn't make any sense now, but no matter how you look at it, it's unfair. He also attended the ethics committee meeting, but at the last minute of the meeting, just before the decision was announced, he was kicked out of the video conference room.
Marchenko also said that even if he is expelled, he does not intend to join the opposition or sever ties with the United Russia party. In the future, an attempt will be made to establish ties with the United Russia Party in a new capacity as a non-partisan, and his punishment will be too severe and somewhat embarrassing.
Ravenko said that no matter what Malchenko thought before, there was enough time to solve the problem before the first reading of the draft, and if it was too late, it could be amended before the second reading, instead of voting against it. What the draft budget seeks to achieve is not only the "people's programme" implemented by the United Russia Party, but also the instructions of the president. (November 2, 2021, by Liu Peng)