Not every person who has begun political activity manages to achieve certain heights in this field. The achievements of those politicians who managed to achieve some success seem all the more significant. Such people include Leonid Markelov - Governor of Mari El. Let's follow his political career and find out other pages from the biography of this statesman.
Childhood and youth
Leonid Markelov was born in Moscow on June 25, 1963. His parents were employees, ethnic Russians. His father, Igor Markelov, rose to the post of head of unit of the agricultural ministry, and his mother, Khazova Galina, was an economist. True, when little Lena was nine years old, they divorced, and the boy began to live with his mother.
After graduating from school in 1981, where Leonid showed rather good results in training, he entered the Military Red Banner Institute of the USSR Ministry of Defense with a lawyer, who successfully graduated in 1986. After that he was sent to the Republic of Mari El to serve in the military prosecutor's office. He managed to go up the ranks from the investigator to the assistant military prosecutor of the military unit. In 1992, at the age of 29, Leonid Igorevich resigned from the armed forces, having begun advocacy there in the Mari Republic.
The beginning of a political career
The political career of a well-known lawyer at that time began in 1995, when Leonid Markelov was elected to the State Duma on the lists of the Liberal Democratic Party, which he was at that time. His activity and outstanding abilities contributed to the fact that he soon became deputy chairman of the parliament in the field of education and science. In 1997, he replaced this post to participate in the Committee on Budget and Taxes, in which he took an active part until 1999, when the term of office of a deputy of the Duma expired.
However, on the party line, Markelov was appointed head of the Republican branch of the LDPR in Mari El. His first actions could indicate that Leonid Markelov is a politician of the first magnitude.
The first pancake is lumpy
But the ambitions of the newly elected deputy extended much further. The governor's post in the Mari Republic is the next goal that Leonid Markelov tried to achieve. Mari El was one of the subjects of the federation, having a republican status. This region was located in the European part of the country in a comparative proximity to the capital. In addition, Leonid Markelov settled in this republic since his service in the military prosecutor's office.
So, a year after being elected to the deputies, he decided to try his luck in the election of the head of the Republic of Mari El. But Leonid Igorevich did not rely on one luck, so he approached the election campaign quite seriously.
However, Leonid Markelov lost this campaign, gaining only 29.2% of the vote and losing to the more successful Vyacheslav Kislitsyn in the fight.
New elections to the Duma at the end of 1999 turned out to be a failure, in which this time Markelov decided not to take part in party lists, but in the single-mandate constituency of the Mari El Republic. On them, he scored a little more than 25% of the vote. Thus, Leonid Igorevich did not get into the State Duma of the third convocation.
Of course, such an active person could not remain completely without work, so he was appointed director of the state-owned company Rosgosstrakh. True, this post was temporary and technical, since no information about the actions of Leonid Igorevich on it was preserved. Most likely, it was just a kind of respite before the new stage of the political struggle.
Presidency
In 2001, Markelov’s aspirations were finally crowned with logical success. He won the presidential election, gaining nearly 60% of the vote, with his old rival Vyacheslav Kislitsyn. They say that not the last role in this victory was played by the actual support of the president of Russia. Thus, from now until today Leonid Markelov is the head of the Republic of Mari El.
In 2004, the next presidential election started in the republic. This time, the administrative resource was fully used by Markelov. He had the support of not only the president of Russia and the government, as he was nominated from the United Russia party, but also possessed all the set of levers of power in Mari El as the head of the republic. Pre-election propaganda was launched, many stories about Markelov were shown on television. But Leonid Igorevich refused to enter into debates with competitors in the struggle for power.
All of the above factors have borne fruit, and it was Leonid Markelov who was re-elected for the second term. Mari El again received him as president.
Meanwhile, the legislation of the Russian Federation regarding the election of the heads of the subjects of the federation has undergone significant changes, since now they were not elected by the population in the elections, but were appointed by the local parliament on the proposal of the country's president. For Markelov, this option was even more suitable, since he was a member of the United Russia government party, which had a traditionally high rating.
And so it happened, in 2009 Leonid Markelov, a statesman with extensive experience and a high level of support for the central government, was appointed president of Mari El.
In 2015, the format was returned according to which the heads of the federation subjects were elected by the population. Markelov again celebrated his victory, gaining a little more than 50% of the vote in the first round, which automatically guaranteed him to be elected without a second round of elections.
Achievements
During his presidency, Leonid Markelov did quite a lot for his region. Under him, roads were repaired, hospitals and schools were built. One of his main achievements is the preservation of economic and social stability in the region for many years.
Accusations
At the same time, Leonid Igorevich was repeatedly criticized and accused by opponents on various issues. Most often, he was charged with corruption, bribery of voters, violation of human rights, and oppression of national movements. Did Leonid Markelov really allow such things? The biography of this statesman has moments testifying to some violations.
So, even in the first presidential elections, lost by Markelov in 1996, tough statements by his team regarding voters were noted. The company for elections to the republican parliament in 2009 was also rather scandalous, on which the appointment of the president indirectly depended. In 2015, Markelov told voters in one of the villages of the republic that he would close the local FAP and dig a road. This statement was filmed on camera. True, later Leonid Igorevich said that he made this statement as a joke.
Repeatedly Leonid Markelov was also accused of oppressing the national Mari movements and organizations. In particular, in 2005 the European Parliament even adopted a resolution on the violation of human rights in Mari El.
As you can see, there really are facts that Leonid Markelov is hardly proud of. His resignation from the presidency has been repeatedly discussed by opposition forces, but so far to no avail.
A family
Leonid Igorevich married when he was a deputy of the State Duma on Irina, who was fourteen years younger than him. Despite this, they developed a rather strong and loving family, in which their son Igor was born in 2000, and in 2003 their daughter Polina.
Irina Markelova has a large business: a factory, agricultural firm, and a media company.
general characteristics
Thus, we see that Leonid Igorevich Markelov is a rather controversial figure in the political horizon. Noting the many useful things he did for the development of the republic, one cannot but mention the accusations that political opponents put forward in his direction.
Here is such a difficult person Leonid Markelov (photo below).
But let's hope that all the ambiguous moments associated with the career of Leonid Igorevich will be left behind, and only positive achievements will be ahead.