By the time he returned to Moscow, it was already late February, and the Duma elections were about to begin!
Naturally, Wang Ye no longer had time to travel around. He had to remain in Moscow and direct his entire faction's campaign efforts.
Meanwhile, those who had previously expressed interest in defecting to Wang Ye's faction also began taking action.
They completed withdrawal procedures from the First Faction, Second Faction, and various smaller factions, resigned from their positions as Duma deputies, and formally swore allegiance to Wang Ye's faction.
This chaotic situation continued until around March 20, when things finally more or less stabilized before the official campaign began.
In fact, the period before the Duma elections—February and March—was somewhat like football's transfer window.
The deputies all had to start considering their futures.
Should they remain in their faction and run for another term as deputies? Should they leave the Duma altogether and move into government work, or perhaps join a major corporation?
Of course, some wanted to keep running, but could not receive sufficient support or resources from their original faction. Those people would consider switching to another faction.
Wang Ye's side had "taken in" quite a few former deputies like that.
During this period, the entire Duma had nearly ground to a halt. Everyone was busy with campaigning, and there were no major matters requiring immediate action from the Duma.
Even if there were, they would have to wait until after the new Duma deputies had been elected...
On March 21, the registration deadline for all faction members arrived. The campaign would officially begin the next day.
That meant all deputy candidates had already made clear which faction they belonged to, and they had to run under their registered faction.
They were not allowed to switch factions again