TWO leading politicians delivered their new year’s greetings to the Russian public this week. One was the president, Vladimir Putin, who has been in power for 18 years and is planning to stay for at least another six following an election due in March. The other was Alexei Navalny, the only truly independent opposition leader. He is also the person who poses the biggest challenge to Mr Putin, and has consequently been barred from standing. Both men were speaking using the Kremlin as a backdrop; but in Mr Navalny’s case, it was painted on a bit of cardboard.
The latter image carried a message: the upcoming election, in which only candidates approved by the Kremlin will be allowed to run, is a cartoon; and genuine politics are unfolding outside the castle’s walls and beyond its control. As part of this process Mr Navalny has called for a nationwide strike on January 28th to launch a boycott of the poll.
Neither Mr Navalny’s ban, announced on December 25th, nor his call for a...Continue reading
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