Russia's Communist Party performed strongly in last month’s parliamentary and regional elections – and would have performed better, had the vote not been (most likely) rigged. But can the Party unite the Kremlin's opponents and together stand up to President Vladimir Putin's United Russia?
MOSCOW – A little over a year ago, while on sabbatical from the American university where I teach, I returned to my hometown, Moscow. I didn’t exactly arrive in a bastion of free speech. But it was a place where some freedom still remained. Opposition leader Alexei Navalny traveled around the country, attempting to muster support for politicians who were not under the Kremlin’s thumb. Popular protests took place. Independent NGOs operated in the country. Journalists and analysts did not necessarily toe the Kremlin line. And the Communist Party was widely viewed as a relic of the past.
MOSCOW – A little over a year ago, while on sabbatical from the American university where I teach, I returned to my hometown, Moscow. I didn’t exactly arrive in a bastion of free speech. But it was a place where some freedom still remained. Opposition leader Alexei Navalny traveled around the country, attempting to muster support for politicians who were not under the Kremlin’s thumb. Popular protests took place. Independent NGOs operated in the country. Journalists and analysts did not necessarily toe the Kremlin line. And the Communist Party was widely viewed as a relic of the past.