Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Friday, May 20, 2011

Another economic rival corralled

Just a couple days after oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov joined a political party seemingly supporting President Medvedev, another survivor of the struggle between economic and political power joins a Putin-oriented group. Is this part of the campaign for the presidency?

According to this report by Miriam Elder in The Guardian, United Russia has such high negatives, that Putin might be replacing it with a new organization.

Alexander Lebedev to join forces with Vladimir Putin

Alexander Lebedev, owner of the Independent and Evening Standard newspapers, has announced he is quitting business in Russia to join Vladimir Putin's latest political initiative as the country prepares for presidential elections…

The move comes after pressure has been building on National Reserve Bank, the jewel in Lebedev's empire. Its headquarters were raided by masked police late last year, allegedly as part of an investigation into fraud at a small failed bank acquired by NRB in 2008. Lebedev has blamed the pressure on his public statements…

Lebedev has been allowed to acquire great wealth in Russia despite his oft-critical statements of the country's leadership. Novaya Gazeta, the newspaper he co-owns with former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, is Russia's leading opposition newspaper…

"Today we are ready not only to co-operate with the [new] Moscow leadership but also to support the People's Front created upon Vladimir Putin's initiative," Lebedev said, adding that he hoped to focus on the fight against corruption.

Putin announced the creation of the All Russia People's Front on 6 May at a congress of the increasingly unpopular ruling United Russia party, saying it would unite social organisations such as NGOs, trade unions and youth groups. Many analysts took the move as a sign Putin was seeking to build popular support ahead of parliamentary elections at the end of the year. The movement could also provide a base of support should Putin seek to distance himself from United Russia, whose approval ratings have fallen to near record lows, should he decide to return to the presidency next year.

Teaching Comparative blog entries are indexed.

The Fourth Edition of What You Need to Know is available from the publisher (where shipping is always FREE).

Labels: leadership, politics, Russia