Of course, this situation had one prerequisite.
That was that the faction entering the race early had to be competitive enough to threaten the other factions.
That was why Khovchenko's faction had not initially drawn the attention of the First and Second Factions. But once Wang Ye's Third Faction entered the fray, they truly could no longer sit still...
Wang Ye's Third Faction could genuinely threaten their Duma seats!
There were only 450 seats in the Duma. When one faction gained seats, the seats of other factions would obviously decrease.
They were directly linked!
Clearly, no faction would willingly watch another faction snatch away its seats.
Because that would trigger a chain reaction—and a vicious one at that...
Fewer seats meant reduced influence in the Duma. At the same time, it would intensify internal struggles within the faction, because every little clique wanted to secure those limited Duma seats.
Internal infighting would weaken the faction's cohesion. It could even lead to lawmakers from the same faction expressing differing opinions on the same policy.
It could even make faction members lose faith in core figures such as the party leader, believing that under their leadership, the faction had not only failed to advance but was steadily losing ground.
At that point, some people within the faction might unite and force the leadership out...
In short, whether Gryzlov, Kolov, and the others could keep their faction's Duma seats from declining would be the greatest measure of their performance.
Whether for personal reasons or for the faction's development, they had no choice but to join the competition.
A chaotic free-for-all had now emerged. The major factions had all begun their campaign publicity offensives early, each using every trick at its disposal to seize propaganda "territory."
It had to be said that Wang