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RUSSIA BEYOND THE HEADLINES
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Elections A Look at the Final Three Political Parties Hoping for Success in this December's Parliamentary Voting
Diverse Parties Make
for an Interesting Election
Despite the decision to narrow At the same time, Zhirinovsky For Justice… On his return to the competitive
the election threshold from has a well-known history of The Party of Social Justice is a political fold, Podberyozkin
5% to 7%, some 11 parties clowning around. His early party considered to be on the built the main themes of the na-
Leading Positions
will be competing in the electoral success was built on moderate left. It has amalgam- tional projects into his party’s
December 2 Duma parliament promises to slash vodka pric- ated an eclectic mix of political new election motto: “people
elections. Completing our es and imperialist declarations positions — from Western so- are our everything!”
recent series of articles on the that “Russian soldiers will cial-democratic values to patri- Vladimir Zhirinovsky, 61
elections, we profile three of come to wash their boots in otic and Russian Orthodox Marching into Europe
Eccentric but astute leader
the more unusual contenders: the Indian Ocean.” The latter worldviews. The Democratic Party of Rus-
the Liberal Democratic Party phrase was uttered repeated- The Party’s leader — Alexei sia is the perhaps the oddest of
of Russia's Liberal Democratic Party
of Russia, the Party of Social ly by both nationalists and a Podberyozkin — has a some- all the country’s democratic
Justice and the Democratic number of liberals who could what different story to that of forces. First established in
Party of Russia. see the humor of it. Vladimir Zhirinovsky. He had a 1990, it was silent for years
Zhirinovsky celebrated his until being revived in late 2005,
ANNA ZAKATNOVA
60th birthday with an extrava- when former prime minister
ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA gant party a year ago, seated The stormy 1990s Mikhail Kasyanov attempted to
MOSCOW
— in typical fashion — on a
propelled
become its leader. As it turned
throne made from precious
One-Man Band wood.
Podberyozkin to the
out, he failed due a combina-
Say “Liberal Democratic Party And his ability to shock cer-
front of the traditional
tion of an insufficient knowl-
edge of party rules and original
of Russia” and the typical Rus- tainly remains strong. During left opposition party activists working against
sian won’t understand what the Duma debates on how to him.
you are talking about. But utter fight bird flu last year, he sug- Present-day party leader An-
VIKTOR VASENIN_RG
the name of its leader — “Vlad- gested shooting all migratory spell working as an electrical drei Bogdanov made his name
imir Zhirinovsky” — and you’ll birds. His parliamentary group fitter. He graduated from the fa- as a PR man for Sergei Mavro-
get a storm of contrasting later submitted a bill to legalize mous Moscow State Institute di, a businessman who Andrei Bogdanov, 35
emotions in response. polygamy, developing the of International Relations, train- achieved notoriety with a fraud-
Former PR man now at helm of
The Liberal Democratic Party is soundbite “a husband for ing ground of many a Soviet ulent financial pyramid
itself an unlikely structure. It is every woman!” diplomat. Up until 1991, he led scheme.
the recently revived Democratic
neither liberal nor democratic, A conscientious leader, Zhiri- an impressive academic ca- Work in PR has apparently
Party of Russia
nor is it really a party in any real novsky travels all over Russia reer as a professor and mili- taught Bodganov the impor-
sense, since its membership is by train and often mixes with tary-political historian. tance of catchy ideas. He has
eclipsed by the leader. Few people on the street. The stormy 1990s propelled proposed legalizing the wide-
women vote for Liberal Demo- He frequently offers voters Podberyozkin to the front of the spread procedure of buying
crats, while the male vote is sizeable gifts and money, traditional left opposition. He oneself out of army service,
concentrated in Siberia. dead-panning accusations of was prominent on the staff of and holding a referendum on
But leader Vladimir Zhiri- Vice-President Alexander
novsky is an astute politician Rutskoi, who led a mutinous
with the gift of popularity. Leader Vladimir parliament against Yeltsin in Bogdanov promises
Doing without spin doctors or
Zhirinovsky is an
the infamous 1993 White
to liquidate the party
PR men, he came a tidy third
in the first Russian presiden-
astute politician with
House showdown. He was
also active in the Communist
as soon as
tial race. He is perhaps the
the gift of popularity.
election campaign of 1996,
Russia enters the EU.
ALEXEY NIKOLSKY_RIA NOVOSTI
only Russian politician able to Doing without spin when Gennady Zyuganov With such lofty aims,
deliver an improvised speech
doctors or PR men,
came close to the presidency.
members shouldn’t
and keep his entire audience
spellbound for two hours.
he came a tidy third
Podberyozkin, however, soon
parted ways with the Commu-
be too put off by their
Alexei Podberyozkin, 54
“I’m a big talker and a big writ-
in the first Russian
nist Party: cynics claimed they
1% public approval
Influential leftist intellectual heading
er. I’ve already outdone Lenin presidential race had no use for any politician rating
Party of Social Justice
for the number of published with individuality.
works,” he says. “And I am Two years ago, Podberyozkin
closing in on Karl Marx and Al- bribery by pointing out he left the Party of Social Justice Russia joining the European
exandre Dumas.” never asks the recipients to after being invited to advise Union. Party activists have no
Fluent in four languages and vote for him. First Deputy Prime Minister problems collecting signatures
highly-educated, Zhirinovsky is While many remain uncon- Dmitry Medvedev on the “Na- in support of the latter idea.
also recognized as a politician vinced by Zhirinovsky’s more tional Projects” program. Initi- Bogdanov promises to liqui-
with a rare ability to see into the eccentric activities, few would ated by Putin, these country- date the party as soon as Rus-
future. In 1996, for example, he dispute Zhirinovsky’s own as- wide schemes focus on the sia enters the EU. And with
correctly forecast the recent di- sessment of the situation: most problematic areas of Rus- such lofty aims, members
vision of Russia into federal “Some present me as a clown sian social development, such shouldn’t be too put off by
districts and the establishment but forget that the clown is the as agriculture, demographics their 1% public approval rat-
of presidential envoys. central figure in any circus.” and healthcare. ing.
-
ALEXEY NIKOLSKY_RIA NOVOSTI
Province With Centuries-Old Monasteries, Small Town Takes Visitors Back in Time
Metropolitan Jonah to erect the strong agricultural skills (Ros-
prefect ensemble that still im- tov onions, for example, are
Rostov the Great Lives Up to the Claim
presses visitors to this day. claimed by some to be the best
The sights of Rostov that make in Russia).
the town a top tourist destina- New changes came with the in-
tion are the kremlin (fortress) dustrial era and Rostov was
and the surrounding monaster- rather late with reforms. Still,
There are two towns named Opolye, a narrow strip of fertile ies. They form the typical struc- some textile factories were es-
"Rostov" in Russia. One is black soil among the poor gray ture of the core fortress and the tablished here by the end of the
named "Rostov the Great" lands of Central Russia, was a surrounding bastions, charac- 19th century. But in general the
and has a population of key area for agriculture. As a teristic of Russian towns in the town remained agricultural.
37,000. Though the other result, Rostov and Suzdal (also 15th and 17th centuries. In the 1960s, when the Golden
town, "Rostov-upon-Don," is in Opolye) became natural Spaso-Yakovlevsky, Avraami- Ring travel route was estab-
10 times larger, “Rostov the capitals of the surrounding re- ev and other monasteries lished in Russia, Rostov was a
Great” played an important gions. It was one of two towns served as bastions, and the premier feature. Along with Su-
role in Russian history. that fostered the expansion of residence of the Metropolitan zdal, it was given the status of
the Russian frontier, along with was the central dungeon of the a museum reserve. So tourism
ANTON RAZMAKHNIN
Novgorod. Never a center of entire defensive complex. and state funding became the
MOSCOW NEWS military strength, Rostov was Strangely, no enemy threat- main sources of income for
instead a spiritual point of ut- ened the town at the end of the Rostov.
The smaller Rostov acquired most importance. Even when 17th century when these de- Today, Rostov remains a poor
the ‘Great’ in its name more the town lost all its power, the fenses were built. And here we town, and this is rather obvious
than 900 years ago, when cathedral of the Metropolitan touch on a matter tightly con- around the kremlin grounds.
Moscow was just a small wood- remained in Rostov and devel- nected to Russia’s medieval The transformation to the post-
en fortress. oped into the Orthodox center world view. industrial stage will take de-
To understand the special aura for all of north-eastern Russia. Rostov has not been a traffic cades. Will Rostov, one of Rus-
of Rostov the Great, one must This religious center, combined hub since time immemorial - a sia’s fairy-tale towns, survive
appreciate the location of the with generous donations from rare case for a Russian town. the wait?
-
town. Rostov stands upon tsars, boyars and profits from But around the kremlin the
Lake Nero, right at the northern real estate belonging to the market was always active, for More about Rostov on
edge of the Opolye district. VLADIMIR SMIRNOV_ITAR-TASS Church, enabled the Rostov local peasants developed www.rbth.rg.ru
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