President Vladimir Putin has always made expert use of puppets. These are regime-friendly politicians who, at the Kremlin’s behest or with its blessing, pose as opposition candidates but never stray into genuinely challenging territory. This system has existed for a long time — at least since Mr. Putin’s first re-election in 2004 — and has always worked perfectly: It maintains the facade of Russia’s imitation democracy. But in the run-up to the presidential election in March, the arrangement seems to have broken down. Mr. Putin’s puppets have begun to come to life.
A month ago, many Russian voters had never even heard of Boris Nadezhdin. Today, after a wildfire candidacy that caught the imagination of the nation, he is the country’s second-most-popular politician. Before his sudden rise to fame, the most noteworthy part of Mr. Nadezhdin’s biography was that he worked with Sergei Kiriyenko and was a member of his liberal parliamentary group. Mr. Kiriyenko, who was prime minister for less than a year in 1998, forswore liberal politics to become a key figure in Mr. Putin’s administration. As the president’s deputy chief of staff, he is now responsible for the country’s electoral campaigns. It is he who decides who will be allowed to participate in them.
In his role, Mr. Kiriyenko has often relied on political puppets.
Mikhail Zygar is a former editor in chief of the independent news channel TV Rain and the author of “War and Punishment: Putin, Zelensky and the Path to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine” and “All the Kremlin’s Men: Inside the Court of Vladimir Putin.”
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Zygar is based. His books about putinocracy are a bit edgy, but give some interesting perspectives. You can argue with them knowing they are written by a clever and pedantic guy.
The problem of future elections isn’t the lack of opposition on the ballot - there was none before - but the lack of well-known lackeys. Previously, there were asshole Jhirinovsky (LDPR) and retrograd Zyuganov (KPRF), but now one is dead and the other is nowhere near the mic. In the 00s, in the 10s average people had an illusion of choice and they could vote for this formal commie or the loud idiot if they don’t want to pick Putin. But now there is him and three nonames.
I’m still on the fence about why they blocked Nadezhdin, even though they have all tools to rig the numbers. They could’ve held him as a way to let of steam from the most tired audience. But no, they banned him for whatever reason.
Is that monstrosity afraid?
