Seeing that the two "leaders" had spoken, the other faction members began to speak up.
"After all, our faction's voice in the Duma is too weak, we have no right to speak! The responsibility falls on you from the Duma side; look at us, we haven't lost in consecutive elections!"
"Heh, what a joke. Last year, the faction concentrated our resources and funds on the state elections; barely any funds and resources were allocated to the Duma side. And our opponents each made heavy investments. As a result, we naturally ended up with many fewer seats. You can't blame us for that."
"Why did we focus our resources on the state elections? Aren't the reasons clear? It was because the decline in the Duma was already apparent, and any further effort would have been futile. It made more sense to concentrate our superior resources and hold our base in the state firmly. The results also proved that our choice was correct; both the Governor and the State Council won by large margins."
