The Russian Communist Party has announced it will form a coalition government with the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) in three regions where Kremlin-backed candidates suffered rare gubernatorial election defeats over the past week.
Incumbents from the ruling party in the Far East Khabarovsk region and central Russia’s Vladimir region lost gubernatorial runoffs to LDPR on Sunday. Candidates from the Communist Party and A Just Russia will compete for the governor’s seat in the Siberian republic of Khakasia on Oct. 7 after its governor’s withdrawal from the race.
“We will now form a coalition government in Khabarovsk, Vladimir and Khakasia,” Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov told Interfax on Monday.
“We consulted with LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky and struck a deal,” he was quoted as saying.
Zhirinovsky himself promotes Smolensk region, where an LDPR governor shares governing duties with Kremlin-backed United Russia and the Communists, Zyuganov said.
Interfax cited Zhirinovsky confirming that LDPR and the Communist Party had agreed to form coalition governments in the regions governed by opposition members.
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