Opposition candidate goes on Russian TV and says Putin should be impeached

During a televised debate yesterday among candidates running for seats in the Russian parliament, Vyacheslav Maltsev—representing the opposition party “Parnas”—openly called for the impeachment of Vladimir Putin.

“One man has fooled us into going to war with a brotherly people, and then fooled us into another war with the Sunnies,” Maltsev said during the debates. “And we get the same situation as always: the boyars are to blame—they're bad—and the tsar is good. If the tsar doesn't know what's going on in his country, we ought to lock up that tsar in the nuthouse. If he knows but doesn't intervene, he belongs in prison. If he knows and contributes to this, tsars like this should be impaled.”

Maltsev enjoys the number-two spot on the Parnas ticket, second to the party's leader, former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov. Some members of Parnas have opposed Maltsev's elevation within the party, expressing concerns about his anti-Semitic views.