Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 843 - 822 Strange Phenomenon_2

Chapter 843: Chapter 822 Strange Phenomenon_2

The others remained silent, and Krov gave a bitter smile, then grimaced and said, "Although this method isn’t bad, to snipe them, we’d still need resources to back us up. We don’t have much in the way of political contributions right now..."

After all, it all comes down to being poor!

The very nature of this election method is a money-gobbling monster!

When the strengths of both sides are comparable, the side with the more robust financial power gains an advantage and increases their chances of winning.

Of course, it’s not to say that whoever has the most money will definitely win. If that were the case, there would be no need for elections at all. Before the campaign even starts, just compare who has raised more money, and then announce on the spot that the side with more contributions wins...

In the election process, it is still possible for the weaker to overcome the stronger, and it’s not even rare!

But no matter what, the side with more contributions still holds quite an advantage...

Only when the financial strength of both sides is not too radically different does the possibility of the weaker overcoming the stronger arise.

If one side has contributions reaching hundreds of millions of US dollars, while the other only has tens or even just a few million, then there’s basically no need to compete—the side with more money is bound to win!

What the Second Faction is facing right now isn’t a lack of people, it’s a lack of money!

Luzhikov understood this as well, so he nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "As for money, I’ll figure something out. Let’s aim to bring one to two hundred million US dollars in contributions for the faction within a month. Next year our seats in the Duma might not increase, they might even reduce, but the position of the Second Faction must be preserved! If we fall to the Third Faction, then it’s all over."

Indeed, if their faction’s power was significantly weakened, Luzhikov could forget about participating in the General Election later on.

...

Here in Russia, the election process isn’t quite the same as in Europe and the United States.

It consists of four steps.

The first step is to elect candidates.

In this step, legitimate citizens or political factions can freely form election alliances and nominate their own candidate for the alliance.

Note, each election alliance can only propose one candidate, and it’s possible that this candidate doesn’t belong to their faction.

This is why Puding, though not a member of the first faction, was still the candidate put forth by the first faction and won the election with its full support.

But it’s different for Luzhikov, who can only rely on his own faction.

It’s unlikely The First Faction and Wang Ye’s Third Faction would support him, would they?

Moreover, it’s not to say just any group of people or any insignificant faction can nominate a candidate. There are thresholds to cross.

The threshold is that any candidate put forth by an election alliance must have the support of one million voters’ signatures!

Additionally, these one million voters cannot be concentrated in a single region or state; no more than seventy thousand signatures may come from any single administrative region!

This one condition alone could filter out all the ’nominal’ candidates!

It also means that the barrier to participate in the General Election is very high!

As of now, looking ahead to next year, there are actually not many people with the power and willingness to run.

Puding is certainly without a doubt running.

Khodorkovsky has also clearly stated his intention to run. With his financial strength and the resources his faction is investing, let’s not say whether he can win the final victory, but qualifying to run should not be a problem.

The other is Luzhikov!

The few others who have the capability to run include Grezlov, Krov, and Mikhail.

But they clearly have no interest in running...

Oh, actually Mikhail doesn’t meet the candidate requirements either, because the law stipulates that only citizens who have reached the age of thirty-five can run for election.

Wang Ye is only 22 this year, 13 years short!

Unless he can push the Duma to amend the constitution, he is not eligible to participate in the election.

The second step is election promotion.

Once the candidates have confirmed their election qualification, they can use various media channels to promote their governance philosophy.

In this phase, the side with greater financial strength naturally has a bigger advantage.

But to ensure basic fairness, each candidate is also given at least eighty minutes of free airtime on the National TV station.

If you want more time to show off your talents?

"Sorry, that’s going to cost extra!"

The third step is to start voting and counting the votes.

There’s not much to say about this, it just depends on who gets more votes.

If a candidate receives more than 50% of the votes, they will be immediately declared the winner.

If no candidate gets more than 50% in the first round of voting, then the two with the highest vote percentages will start a second round of voting, with the candidate who receives the most votes winning.

The fourth step, of course, is for the winner to declare victory and take office...

......

When they heard Luzhikov had agreed to source campaign donations of a couple of hundred million US dollars, everyone’s faces lit up with delight.

That was real cash!

And the Second Faction’s goals for next year’s seats were not high, planning to concentrate resources to ensure the election of core members first and foremost.

So by this calculation, there would be quite a bit of money to go around for everyone!

Krov’s face also lit up with a smile as he cheerfully said, "Then there’s no problem! Now that the funding issue is resolved, it’s up to everyone here to perform. I hope we can all work together and create a brilliant future for our faction!"

It was time to boost everyone’s morale, as they couldn’t afford to be despondent and disorganized before the real competition even began. If that happened, what would be the point of running in the election?

"Don’t worry, as long as the funding keeps up, I absolutely won’t lose!"

"Yeah, yeah, the reason we are at a disadvantage now is because we haven’t invested enough in election promotion, we simply lack the funds."

"Without saying anything else, just give me another five million US dollars for the election funds, and my Duma seat is guaranteed!"

"I... I just need three million US dollars!"...

The atmosphere in the meeting room became instantly lively, with everyone making declarations and asking for money...

That’s the power of money!

If you want to be the leader of a faction, it’s clear that mere seniority and influence are not enough.

That’s why Krov could only remain within the Duma without harboring bigger ambitions—the reason lies here.

Luzhikov could pull in enough donations for the faction, while Krov could not...

So, in appearance, Krov might be the Faction Party Leader and the figurehead.

But actually, everyone within the faction and even those from other factions were aware that the true soul of the Second Faction was Luzhikov!

Just as Puding was the true soul of the First Faction, even though he wasn’t even a member of the First Faction...

......

Wang Ye was clueless about the "counterattack" plotted by the Second Faction.

He was simply proceeding with the plan he and Grezlov had agreed upon.

For now, he was letting the selected faction hard-core members "freestyle," doing some preliminary groundwork.

So Wang Ye wasn’t too busy yet, just needed to stay in the Duma Office, dispatching personnel, allocating resources, and overseeing the grand strategy was enough.

When it got to the time just before the election started, that’s when Wang Ye would truly begin to get busy.

Not only did he have to ensure that his own election went smoothly, but he also had to stand in for members with less favorable situations, canvassing votes for them.

Bearing the responsibility of the Party Leader was naturally significant!

It was not enough to just provide funding, at the crucial moment, one must also rise to the occasion and endorse the faction members.

As for the effectiveness of one’s support, that would depend on personal charm and influence.

In this regard, Wang Ye was probably a qualified Party Leader. He did not dare say he could rally a huge following with a mere gesture, but he could probably be said to have the ability to call and have people respond...

One day, as he was buried in paperwork, Rossiyana suddenly asked:

"Misha, have you noticed a strange phenomenon lately?"

Without lifting his head, Wang Ye countered, "What strange phenomenon?"

"I feel like, for some time now, there’s been an unusually high number of people wanting to join our faction... so many that it seems... abnormal," Rossiyana questioned with a hint of perplexity.