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Deputy Asks Culture Ministry to Make Russian ‘House of Cards’

This image released by Netflix shows Kevin Spacey as Francis Underwood in a scene from "House of Cards."

Vladimir Petrov, a deputy in the legislative assembly of Russia’s Leningrad region, has asked the Culture Ministry and the Federal Agency on Cinematography to create a series dedicated to the everyday life of Russian officials, the RIA Novosti news agency reported Thursday.

The idea to make a show that would tell the story of the nuances of parliamentary work reportedly came to Petrov as he watched “House of Cards,” a popular American series about an influential American official who reaches the presidency through intrigue, infighting and even several murders.

However, in contrast to the American prototype, the Russian series should portray the authorities in a positive light, Petrov believes, adding that the image of the Russian deputy must be improved in order to make him “a national hero.”

“Perhaps it would make sense to make some ‘commoner’ the main character and let him pass all the way from the municipal council to the State Duma,” Petrov wrote, RIA Novosti reported.

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