Russian local elections: protest movements can be seen in big cities

– The atmosphere of protest is great this year. Especially in big cities. There, it is much more difficult to manipulate the elections, independent Russian political scientist Maria Lipman tells DN.

Russian elections are always carried out in the same way: first the Putin regime prevents the participation of the opposition, then the vote is manipulated. The result is that Putin’s United Russia wins. That is the method, especially in parliamentary and presidential elections.

Local and regional options are more difficult to verify. When Russia elects new governors, regional and municipal councils on Sunday, the Kremlin will certainly do its best to control the elections. But it has become much more difficult than before, mostly due to opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s new strategy. It’s called “Vote Smart” and it means that instead of boycotting elections, something many do in protest, voters focus their votes on the candidate who has the best chance of removing the candidate from power on the board.

In last year’s Moscow municipal elections, this strategy worked surprisingly well. United Russia lost its total dominance in the city council, from 40 to 25 seats (out of 45). Even if they kept their majority, the loss was humiliating. The opposition also made great strides in Irkutsk and Khabarovsk.

Alexei Navalny, who is behind the strategy, has just awakened from his coma in a Berlin hospital. He was poisoned on a trip to Siberia that had a lot to do with this election. In Tomsk and Novosibirisk, he made films about how United Russia elected officials build their own businesses in the construction and municipal industry. With the help of their political mandates, they drive out all the competitors and then make a fortune on construction projects that fall short, or from constantly rising water and electricity prices. The inhabitants of the municipality have no choice but to pay, as the monopoly situation prevails.

Navalny’s team is convinced that the attack on the opposition leader was linked to the elections.

Since the movies were released For example, Sergei Bojko in Novosibirsk has received enormous attention. Bojko is an independent opposition politician, the foremost of the university town of Novosibirsk. Challenge the incumbent in local elections with the “Novosibirsk 2020” coalition. The coalition managed, through thick and thin, to register in the elections, but the authorities are doing everything possible to prevent its campaign. Among other things, Bojko has been forced to pay 20,000 rubles (equivalent to 2,300 SEK) for posting electoral materials.

He is now the main character in Navalny’s film about Novosibirsk, which has already received more than 4.9 million views online. The attack on Navalny has only raised interest, despite the Kremlin’s attempts to downplay the poisoning and call it an attack of disease. The same is true for opposition candidates in Tomsk, which is the setting for Navalny’s second film. Here, too, the opposition has recognized candidates, who receive additional attention thanks to the film.

Both Tomsk and Novosibirisk are university towns. This means in part that voters are more critical of those in power and in part that it is more difficult to manipulate the vote count. There are more electoral observers and the general interest that it goes direct to greater.

– The Kremlin will use every conceivable method of manipulation. You try to scare the candidates, you buy votes. At the same time, it is impossible for those in power to stop the opposition everywhere. Someone can be elected, especially in the city council election, says Maria Lipman.

Lipman is the editor-in-chief for Point & Counterpoint, a magazine about Russia published by George Washington University. It has followed Russian domestic politics for years, even though there has generally been no real policy to follow. The Putin regime is manipulating all elections and there is no party system.

But regional and local elections are increasingly beginning to crystallize into something that is almost similar to politics in Russia. Although those in power try to prevent the opposition from running, they sometimes get their candidates approved. Election fraud is much more difficult as the number of election observers increases. However, Lipman notes that the Kremlin’s control over the regions as a whole is not threatened.

– It is that the local elections will not affect the country in a radical way. The Kremlin has a great advantage in terms of resources. We should not expect a development similar to that in Belarus. At the same time, the Kremlin is finding it increasingly difficult to control everything. Resources are not always enough to have a 100% loyal council in every city.

20 regions will vote in Sunday’s elections governor and 11 regional parliaments. 55 cities elect the city council. The choice only applies to parts of the country. For practical reasons, regional and municipal elections in Russia are spread out over several years.

The Kremlin has done its best to meet the opposition in time. In Arkhangelsk, for example, the opposition candidate Oleg Mandrykin, who ran for the “Stop Sjies” coalition, was unable to stand for election. “Stop Sjies” is a movement created in opposition to a huge Moscow garbage dump. It was planned in the untouched wilderness in the Archangel area, but now an extensive citizen campaign has at least temporarily halted construction.

The success of Sjies is an example of how Russian citizens become more adept at defending their rights. Maria Lipman certainly cautions against any direct connection to local elections. But watch at the same time that situations constantly arise that those in power had not anticipated and do not have time to react before it is too late.

– The ongoing demonstrations in Khabarovsk turned into an unpleasant lesson for the Kremlin. There was a governor elected by the people, Sergei Furgal. The authorities made the mistake of releasing him and he quickly became popular. He is now arrested and charged with murder, but people are still demonstrating for his release.

From July 11 The inhabitants of Khabarovsk demonstrate every Sunday against the arrest of Furgal. According to Lipman, the Kremlin is now doing everything in its power to prevent it from happening again elsewhere. Therefore, the measures put in place to control local and regional elections are massive.

According to Lipman, Navalny’s films on corruption in Novosibirsk and Tomsk show a reality that exists everywhere in Russia.

– The pattern looks the same everywhere. Government officials are both construction contractors and civil servants. They enrich themselves at the expense of the inhabitants. More and more people are protesting against this.

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