Not every person who starts political activity manages to reach certain heights in this field. All the more significant are the achievements of those politicians who managed to achieve some success. These people include Leonid Markelov, the 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, Russians by nationality. His father, Igor Markelov, rose to the position of head 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 quite good results in training, he entered the Military Red Banner Institute of the USSR Ministry of Defense as a lawyer, which he 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 through the ranks from an investigator to an assistant military prosecutor of a military unit. ATIn 1992, at the age of 29, Leonid Igorevich retired from the armed forces, starting his legal career there in the Mari Republic.
The beginning of a political career
The political career of a lawyer known by that time began in 1995, when Leonid Markelov was elected to the State Duma on the lists of the Liberal Democratic Party, in which he was at that time. His activity and outstanding abilities contributed to the fact that he soon became the deputy chairman of the parliament in the field of education and science. In 1997, he changed 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 Duma deputy expired.
At the same time, 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.
First pancake lumpy
But the ambitions of the newly elected MP went much further. The gubernatorial 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 relative proximity to the capital. In addition, Leonid Markelov settled in this republic since the time of his service in the military prosecutor's office.
So, one year afterelection to 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 luck alone, so he approached the election campaign quite seriously.
However, Leonid Markelov lost this campaign, gaining only 29.2% of the vote and losing in the fight to the more successful Vyacheslav Kislitsyn.
The new elections to the Duma at the end of 1999 also turned out to be a failure, in which this time Markelov decided to take part not on the party lists, but on the single-mandate constituency of the Republic of Mari El. On them, he scored a little more than 25% of the votes. 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 a job, so he was appointed director of the state-owned company Rosgosstrakh. True, this position was temporary and technical, since no information about the actions of Leonid Igorevich in it has been preserved. Most likely, it was just a kind of respite before a new stage of political struggle.
Presidency
In 2001, Markelov's aspirations finally met with natural success. He won the presidential election with nearly 60% of the popular vote against his old rival Vyacheslav Kislitsyn. They say that the actual support of the President of Russia played an important role in this victory. Thus, from now until today, Leonid Markelov is the head of the Republic of Mari El.
In 2004, the next presidential elections started in the republic. On thethis time the administrative resource was used by Markelov to the fullest extent. 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 had the entire set of levers of power in Mari El as the head of the republic. 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 a second term. Mari El again got him for president.
Meanwhile, the legislation of the Russian Federation regarding the election of heads of subjects of the federation has undergone significant changes, since now they were not elected by the population in 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 traditionally had a high rating.
And so it happened, in 2009 Leonid Markelov, a statesman with extensive experience and a high level of support from the central government, was appointed President of Mari El.
In 2015, the format was returned, according to which the heads of the subjects of the federation were elected by the population. Markelov again celebrated his victory, gaining a little over 50% of the vote in the first round, which automatically guaranteed his election without a second round of elections.
Achievements
During his presidency, LeonidMarkelov has done 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 over the 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, bribing voters, violating human rights, and oppressing national movements. Did Leonid Markelov really admit such things? The biography of this statesman has moments that testify to some violations.
Thus, even in the first elections for the presidency, lost by Markelov in 1996, there were harsh statements made by his team against voters. The campaign for elections to the republican parliament in 2009, on which the appointment of the president indirectly depended, was also quite scandalous. In 2015, Markelov told voters in one of the villages of the republic that he would close the local FAP and dig up the road. This statement was caught on camera. True, later Leonid Igorevich said that he made this statement as a joke.
Repeatedly Leonid Markelov was also accused of oppression of 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 more than oncewas discussed by the opposition forces, but so far to no avail.
Family
Leonid Igorevich married when he was a deputy of the State Duma to Irina, who was fourteen years younger than him. Despite this, they had a fairly strong and loving family, in which in 2000 their son Igor was born, and in 2003 their daughter Polina.
Irina Markelova has a big business: a factory, an agricultural firm, a media company.
General characteristics
Thus, we see that Leonid Igorevich Markelov is a rather controversial figure in the political sky. Noting the many useful deeds he did for the development of the republic, one cannot fail to 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 controversial moments associated with the career of Leonid Igorevich will be left behind, and only positive achievements will be ahead.
