The Political Animal

The legs of ambushed economies have been scrambling to balance monetary costs versus the cost of life in order to contain the Corona virus’ unprecedented scale of spread across the globe. Yet, the dice of power-play continues to roll, with the governments now concerned more than ever about their political fates; since their respective capacity to govern and manage the pandemic comes under detailed scrutiny by the masses and the opposition.

The citizens of Khabarovsk took to the streets in an unprecedented protest demanding the release of the popular regional governor, Sergey Furgal, who pleaded not guilty on being arrested for murder charges of businessmen from back in 2004-05 on July 10 by officers who had flown in specially from Moscow. Currently, he is being held under pre-trial detention for two months in the capital.

The opposition demonstrated against the President, with the protestors’ chanting of “Freedom for Furgal,” and “Putin Resign” reflecting the gravity of the anti-Putin mindset amongst the Russian citizens; especially given it was the largest display of discontent in the modern history of the Khabarovsk region, which is essentially a comatose hinterland 4000 miles east from the capital of Moscow.

Putin being no stranger to protests attempted to derail attention by broadcasting exclusive coverage of the coronavirus cases in the U.S using the state-controlled media. In addition, the city’s main square was sealed off under the guise of disinfection by the authorities. However, the protest was peacefully carried out with the police not making any arrests, unlike the common protocol of jailing and citing them as being provoked under western influence and hence, illegal.

To get to the truth of the matter, the protestors have demanded his trial be held in Khabarovsk and in a transparent manner. Besides, they have also questioned the intent and the timing of the arrest by the prosecutors i.e. 15 years after the alleged crimes. It’s speculated that Mr. Furgal is yet another unfortunate victim of Putin’s tactics, similar to that of other opposition leaders and critics in the past who have suffered the fate of being accused of multiple charges and swept off the scene, as they dared to rival him.

Mr. Furgal, who hails from the Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia – believed to be a ‘loyal opposition’- had an unexpected victory in the gubernatorial elections against the Putin-backed United Russia Party candidate in 2018. In addition, Kremlin’s political hold was threatened as they lost control of the city, and the regional duma during the 2019 elections leading to a shift of the power structure into the hands of the LDPR party.

According to political analyst Nikolai Petrov, Kremlin is making moves since Furgal is gradually being favoured over Putin. On the contrary, President Putin’s point man in the region, Yuri Trutnev, defends, “Law enforcers would never have detained a sitting governor if they didn’t have a 100% cast-iron reason for doing so.”

Considering the public perception of Furgal’s arrest being politically motivated, and the state anyway being intolerant to protests of political nature, the anti-Putin slogans raised are unlikely to be taken lightly by Moscow, with the fear of it potentially spreading to other cities. The temperatures have flared again recently, with the President passing a referendum amending the constitution to allow himself to stay in power till 2036 post the end of his two consecutive six-year terms in 2024. This is unlike the last time, when he was forced to vacate his seat at the end of his second term to Dmitry Medvedev in 2008 (whom he puppeteered, and had himself serve as Prime Minister, only to resume his militaristic and authoritative power back in 2012 by winning the elections with an increased margin of votes).

Despite the rampant corruption, a plethora of civil problems, and economic crisis. Putin has managed to brainwash his citizens by creating and maintaining an image of a strong, invincible leader who ‘supposedly’ brought stability in Russia post-1990. Further, portraying himself as a nationalist harvesting sympathy from his KGB days during WWII by using media not only as a propaganda machine to maintain his stature, but also to nip the bud of any form of dissent against his regime, which has gone on to progressively suppress civil liberties, human rights, and conducting fair elections.

This was evidenced by the jailing of protestors and journalists in the name of violating the rules introduced to prevent the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19 in the beginning of July 2020, while they were actually lobbying to release fellow journalists like Svetlana Prokopyeva and Ivan Safronov, whom the authorities were criminally prosecuting for their journalistic work.

Therefore, one truly wonders how long a political system can survive with the country up in arms against the government in the foreground of the pandemic crippling the economy, as Russia simultaneously struggles to keep cases down.

By Krishnaa Thakkar

References:

Al Jazeera – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vtr7C2CRT-w&t=382s

CRUX – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnr8twb1vfU

The Guardian – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl8Ef7cgUu8&t=425s

WION – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPlZWK6TQWQ

Vox – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxMWSmKieuc

BBC – https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53441687

CNN – https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/11/europe/russia-arrest-sergey-furgal-intl/index.html

The New York Times – https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/11/world/europe/russia-protests-putin.html

The Wire – https://thewire.in/world/hundreds-protest-in-moscow

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty – https://www.rferl.org/a/hundreds-protest-for-second-day-in-russia-s-khabarovsk-after-arrest-of-popular-governor/30721826.html