Sochi makes sense

Entrepreneur Alexander Lebedev intends to participate in the elections of the mayor of Sochi on April 26. If he is registered as a candidate, he will draw up a company to one of the leaders of the Solidarity movement Boris Nemtsov , entrepreneur Pavel Emelianenko, military pensioner Sergei Bernasovsky and general director of the Russian Airline Erlen Nikolai Kuznetsov and, possibly, State Duma deputy from the LDPR Andrei Lunovova.

Political scientist Vladimir Poblovsky in an interview with Radio Freedom doubted that the struggle in these elections could be honest:

- I do not believe in that. The strong rivals of the candidate from the party will either not allow the elections under any pretext, or they will consider voices according to the well-known principle: it does not matter how they vote, it is important who believes. And representatives of the administration will be considered.

The name of the candidate from the party of the authorities has not yet been named, because Sochi is not an ordinary case. The power is unlikely to go to the rough falsification of voting outcases. She is looking for a candidate for whom someone will vote. Sochi differs from the average Russian city. There is a rather advanced capitalist economy, the population is largely imbued with modern ideas. If the elections are honest there, then United Russia has no chances.

The most profitable political platform for candidates is the fight against corruption. I think that neither Lebedev, nor Nemtsov, nor a candidate from the Communists will forget this topic. Now attempts will be made to come up with a reason to refuse to register or withdraw dangerous candidates from the elections, first of all, these are Nemtsov and Lebedev. Lugovoi may well be allowed, although it will, of course, be a scandalous moment. In general, subject to all the rules, these would be very interesting elections. In Sochi, the election of the mayor was repeatedly held, really alternative, there were cases when the candidate actually won against all, but these results were falsified, this happened in Yeltsin times. But in general it is a city with a very interesting electoral history.

If we talk about the role of the governor Alexander Tkachev in this campaign, then I think the head of the region and the Kremlin will act in agreement, and, I think, the Kremlin will listen to the opinion of Tkachev, because he knows better what is happening there. There may be such a situation that it will not be so important for the Kremlin administrative and economic clans to put your person on the cash flow in connection with the Olympics. They can neglect with this interest for the sake of not swans or nimsov. I think that Nemtsov could not be able to be, but he can gain a solid percentage of votes in honest elections. This will increase the authority of "solidarity", which in the Kremlin does not want at all. Therefore, I think that they can simply give Tkachev this business to the mercy, say - move whoever you want, if only he won.

Why still can't defeat Nemtsov? I think, even in such an advanced city as Sochi, the Democrats are not so strong as to immediately go to the mayors. I think that Nemtsov has a negative image as a representative of the Yeltsin regime. And now even those who fight the Putin regime do not want to return Yeltsinism. I would say so that Nemtsov has up to 30 percent in Sochi, and this is a lot.

However, the fact that both the Nemts and Lebedev join the election campaign, very correctly from a political point of view. For Nemtsov and "solidarity" this is a very convenient occasion to promote the brand of "solidarity", to remind of yourself. Alexander Lebedev, who, undoubtedly, has already set himself great political goals for several years, for a long time not so much a businessman as a federal level politician; And at the same time, he is a unnecessary figure, so in an honest election he would have good chances to win, especially in the second round. With dishonest - it is clear what are the chances.

In a word, it is possible that as a result of all these elections at the head of Sochi, a famous figure in the country will not necessarily be, not necessarily a nominee of the Moscow nomenclature, it can be someone from Krasnodar, known at the regional level, may even be known in Sochi, but not known in Moscow and in general in Russia. Nevertheless, there is a great sense for all political forces that are going to play in the future in the federal arena, to compete for the post of mayor of Sochi.

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  Andrey Shary

  I.O. Regional Director of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty for Russian -Sound Content

  Andrey Shary on Facebook

  Sharya@rferl.org