MOSCOW ? The youthful, Internet-savvy Russians who have turned out in the streets in historic numbers in recent weeks want to end Prime Minister Vladimir Putin?s untrammeled rule over their country, but whether they can translate their frustration to the political arena ? or even whether they will remain fired up ? remains an open question.
Much of the country?s youthful post-Soviet middle class stayed apolitical until recent months, and the established opposition parties have been slow to capitalize on the discontent. On Monday, the planners of a Christmas Eve protest agreed to focus on denying Putin the presidency this March. But they did not discuss a candidate they would campaign for, in part because few new faces are on the scene.
The latest disappointment for the young organizers came Monday, when the reformist Yabloko Party filed papers to nominate its longtime leader, Grigory Yavlinsky, 59, for president, rather than a charismatic blogger, Alexei Navalny, 35, who has been a galvanizing force behind the protests. Many of the young generation who are new to politics felt that nominating Navalny was the fastest path to a reenergized election, although some have questioned his strident nationalism.
The party rejected consideration of the blogger at a weekend meeting, saying he had not submitted a written application. But filling out the form would have been difficult. He has been in prison, accused of obstructing traffic during an unsanctioned protest, since the day after the Dec. 4 parliamentary elections.
That there is serious discussion about challengers to Putin is itself a major departure for a country where just weeks ago any chinks in his armor appeared theoretical at best.
?There is a demand for changes in society, and such changes are not possible without new faces in politics,? said Nikolai Kuznetsov, a member of Yabloko who had pushed for the blogger to be the party?s nominee. ?Navalny?s supporters are active young people. They are the ones who are building civil society in Russia. Because of him, people in Russia now understand that the United Russia Party is a party of crooks and thieves,? referring to the phrase that Navalny coined for Putin?s party that has now become a popular way to refer to it.
It remains unclear whether Yavlinsky will make it onto the ballot. He and billionaire New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, 46, who declared his intention to run last week, will have to collect 2 million signatures by Jan. 18 to qualify ? working through the New Year and Christmas holidays, when much of the country goes on holiday. According to the disputed official results from the Dec. 4 election, Yavlinsky?s party received 2.3 million votes nationwide.
Prokhorov, a pro-business candidate who has espoused democratic reforms, could attract liberal support, but some analysts here have questioned whether he had been put up by the Kremlin to split the reformists? vote.
If neither Prokhorov nor Yavlinsky makes it onto the ballot, Russians will most likely choose among an ultra-nationalist, a Communist nostalgic, a candidate who until earlier this year was close to Putin, and Putin himself ? unappetizing options for the protesters, many of whom were apolitical until very recently, content to prosper as the run-up in oil prices drove government spending during Putin?s first decade in power.
Source: http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=087f241c87a70f50bbee29ba3c74d50b
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