Russian political observers have been titillated by Medvedev’s announcement that he will not be running for president. But what were they expecting? Andrei Konchalovsky was under no illusions: plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
The great battles waged on behalf of democracy in the 20th century have ended in crisis, proposes the painter and novelist Maxim Kantor. Shares in ‘democracy’ have crashed, while globalisation has led to the rise of a new super-rich lumpen elite which does not even notice that the world is on fire
The liberals' reaction to President Medvedev’s voluntary political suicide might well be described as ‘gloating disillusion.' For Daniil Kotsyubinsky, the surprising thing was some believed democratic evolution was a real possibility.
Internal and external pressures seem to have triggered a radical readjustment in the Kremlin’s pre-election planning. The consequences may prove long-lasting, writes Nikolai Petrov
Putin could theoretically remain in power until 2024. But his plans could be undermined by the change in generations: with male life expectancy at just 59, society will soon be un-Soviet. Most people will have grown up in a completely different age and will not be content to be stuck with post-Sov
In Western Russia's Red Belt effectively only the Communist Party and 'United Russia' are fielding candidates, often carpetbaggers parachuted in from elsewhere. This enrages local voters who feel themselves disenfranchised, says Elena Godlevskaya
Putin’s announcement that he and Medvedev had decided long ago who would be president in 2012 has caused a furore in Russia and abroad. It will be disastrous for Russia and Putin will almost certainly find he has made a rod for his own back, says Kirill Rogov
Russian electoral politics are a minefield and nothing demonstrates it more clearly than the recent debacle of the ‘Right Cause’ party. A knowledge of past history helps to explain why Prokhorov was dismissed. He will now be able to spend more time on his business interests, having learnt the less
The presidential election is still 6 months away, but speculation about who would stand i.e become president had reached fever pitch. A section of society really hoped that Medvedev would continue his liberal policies, even though signs that this could happen were few and far between. Now there is
Putin’s recent announcement that he would be “standing for” president caught people off guard, as it was intended to. For Andrei Piontkovsky, it was a disgusting spectacle and test of the Russian people that will almost certainly end badly.
The resignation of Russia's finance minister Aleksey Kudrin is a much more significant event than the Putin-Medvedev reshuffle, says Dmitry Travin. Kudrin's cool foresight was the driving force behind Russia’s economic resurgence of the early 2000s, and the main reason why the country avoided tota
The Russian election campaign is hotting up. In the middle of September Mikhail Prokhorov was dismissed as leader of the ‘Right Cause’ party, having fallen foul of both the party members and the Kremlin. This sets the context to an even bigger drama, and could be seen as the first stage of it. Ric
