In March of 2018, Russia will vote for its next President.
The obvious winner would appear to be the incumbent, Vladimir Putin, who has alternated
between Prime Minister and President for nearly two decades.
But a late 2017 poll by the independent Levada Center found that more than a quarter of the
Russian population has yet to decide who they will vote for, and Putin has not even announced
his candidacy, saying that he will think about whether or not he will even run.
So who exactly would he be running against, and just how popular are they?
Well, there are nearly 100 political parties in Russia, but only six represented in parliament.
United Russia is the largest by far, led by Vladimir Putin, followed by the Communist
Party, the Liberal Democratic Party, A Just Russia, Rodina, and the Civic Platform Party.
Running on behalf of the Communist Party is 73-year-old Gennady Zyuganov, who has led
the party since 1993.
Zyuganov has been a fixture in Russian politics since before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
He blamed its dissolution on the reform government of the USSR’s last leader, Mikhail Ghorbachev,
and was a noted hard-liner in the country’s final years.
Since then, he has criticized the increase in wealth inequality on the shift to a capitalist
economy, and lobbied for a return to socialism.
He has run for President four times, and once even came close to beating Boris Yeltsin.
Today, his support hovers around 2%.
Another leading challenger is the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
Zhirinovsky is best described as Russia’s version of Donald Trump.
He is known for his extremely nationalist and populist views combined with an impulsive
and boisterous style of anti-American rhetoric.
He once started a fight in parliament by spitting on another party leader, and he has promised
to shoot his political opponents should he be elected President in 2018.
He has even suggested building a border wall along Russia in order to keep out Muslims,
and notably, he supported Donald Trump during the 2016 election.
What is interesting is that while espousing beliefs that have been called fascist, the
“Liberal Democrat Party” is widely known to be neither liberal nor democratic.
In fact, it was allegedly established as a false opposition party by the KGB, according
to a former high ranking USSR official to corral ultra-right wing voters.
Zhirinovsky currently holds about 2% support.
Finally, and perhaps most seriously, is Alexei Navalny, the leader of the Progress Party
which does not hold seats in parliament.
Navalny is one of the most outspoken critics of Vladimir Putin, and corruption in Russia.
He has called for a decentralization of power in government, switching to a parliamentary
republic instead of the current constitutional republic, and separating the judicial branch
from presidential influence.
He has been repeatedly arrested by Russian authorities, most recently on October 2nd,
2017, for “calls to participate in an uncoordinated protest” against corruption.
Notably Navalny is barred from the ballot, due to a conviction for embezzlement, following
a federal trial that the European court of human rights deemed unjust.
Some believe that a recent candidacy announcement by TV personality Ksenia Sobchak is Putin’s
way of establishing controlled opposition in the election, without actually threatening
his chances.
Navalny is currently polling at 1% support.
Clearly, there is no real diversity of choice for the next Russian president, although it
is important to note that publicly voicing opposition to Vladimir Putin is unpopular,
and even sometimes dangerous.
Authorities regularly crack down on independent media and dissidents.
And even if President Putin chooses not to run for another term, which is unlikely, nearly
a fifth of Russians surveyed state that they will vote for literally anyone who is supported
by Putin.
And while Russian law limits presidents to two consecutive terms, Putin has skirted this
law by alternating between being President and Prime Minister, potentially allowing him
to stay in power indefinitely.
So who will be the next President of Russia?
I think we all know the answer.
Russia’s economy has faltered under President Putin’s leadership, so how does he remain
so popular in the country?
Find out in this video right here.
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