- Title: RUSSIA/FILE: Russian opposition leader Navalny launches Moscow mayor campaign
- Date: 29th July 2013
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (JULY 29, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF KREMLIN STAR ON KREMLIN TOWER MOSCOW, RUSSIA (JULY 26, 2013) (REUTERS) PEOPLE ON SIDEWALK VARIOUS OF SUPPORTERS OF OPPOSITION LEADER ALEXEI NAVALNY SETTING UP CAMPAIGN POSTER CAMPAIGN POSTER WITH PHOTO OF NAVALNY VARIOUS OF SUPPORTERS SETTING UP POSTER VARIOUS OF SUPPORTER HANDING OUT FLYERS VARIOUS OF EXTER
- Embargoed: 13th August 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Russian Federation
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAD40GI1WQQ0BAX02LEDQZ1MVJA
- Story Text: Top Russian opposition leader and Putin critic Alexei Navalny went ahead with his campaign for the Moscow mayor's office, despite the fact that polls show he won't be able to win the election.
Navalny's supporters set up posters at metro station exits around the city centre, and handed out leaflets to commuters in an attempt to drum up support for Russia's most prominent opposition leader and anti-graft blogger.
The 37-year old is up against several different candidates, including the favorite in the race, Sergei Sobyanin, a close Putin ally who is seeking a fresh term in the influential job.
Opinion polls show Navalny, whose appeal is mainly limited to the urban middle-class and Internet-savvy youth, is trailing far behind Sobyanin - a fact that has not seemed to discourage either Navalny or his supporters.
"On election day Navalny will not have more than five or six percent (of the vote). Everyone acknowledges now that the figure will be at least two digits. The interesting question is whether we can get 20-25 percent (of the vote). If we can show that we can do this - that there is no ceiling here - it's just a rating - we can seriously raise the question about a second round (of voting)," the head of Navalny's campaign Leonid Volkov said on Friday (July 26).
Others remain concerned that Navalny, who is on temporary release after his conviction and sentencing to five years in prison for embezzling funds from a state timber company, could go to jail after the elections.
"We will explain that if Alexei (Navalny) wins the election, the government will not dare to jail him. What else can we say? This is what we believe in ourselves," Volkov said.
Navalny has filed an appeal against his conviction and denies any wrongdoing, saying his conviction in the remote Russian city of Kirov is a Kremlin-driven attempt to stop his opposition activism and part of a wider crackdown on dissent.
His conviction and overnight in detention brought him a burst of media attention, and sympathetic support from some Russian supporters.
"Well done (Navalny) - I respect him - he's a hero - a hero; a tough figure; a fighter. You should love and respect these sorts of people and support them," said Moscow region resident Valery.
Others see his participation in the election as a step forward for Russian democracy.
"It's not us who choose - it's not for us, because in any case Sobyanin is going to be the mayor. I think it is already a democracy for Russia that this kind of controversial opposition leader is participating in the elections. Maybe at the next city elections, maybe the opposition leader will take part in presidential elections," a passerby, Rustam told Reuters.
Moscow's acting mayor, Sobyanin - appointed to his post by then-president Medvedev in 2010 - was due to end his term in 2015, and political analysts suggest that the snap election to be held in September, will give Sobyanin the upper hand as other candidates will not have enough time to mount a campaign.
Analysts, however, say Navalny who was unexpectedly released from arrest the day following his sentencing pending appeal, received a huge boost in popularity and sympathetic support due to his brief time in detention.
"Alexei Navalny's strength is that he's new as a political figure. Besides that he's managed to attract the attention of all the protest groups - even those openly didn't sympathise with him, and Sergei Blinov - the judge who pronounced the (guilty) verdict in the Kirov Forest case - really helped him with this," political analyst Alexei Mukhin told Reuters on Monday (July 29).
Still, Mukhin said, Navalny has been unable to get along with his fellow Russian opposition leaders.
"Alexei Navalny's weakness is that he basically can't build relationships with his colleagues, and with people with whom he works in the Opposition Coordination Council," Mukhin said.
Sergei Mitrokhin the leader of Russia's opposition party Yabloko, is also running for mayor, despite the fact that his candidacy may detract votes from Navalny.
"He's (Navalny) attended the Russian marches; he's the organiser of the Russian marches. He is a nationalist - what can I think about him? We have different views, different positions, he has the right to participate in the elections. We defended him when he was given an unfair verdict, but from a political point of view we are absolutely different candidates. He wants nationalism for Russia, and we think that nationalism is destructive for Russia - it will destroy (Russia) as it destroyed Yugoslavia before," Mitrokhin said.
Navalny has captured the mood of urban youth disillusioned by Putin's long rule. But he has also been dogged by accusations that he has nationalist tendencies.
Moscow's mayor elections are set to be held on September 8, 2013. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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