Valdai Club

A person who is involved exclusively in economic issues cannot be the mayor of Moscow in today’s Russia. The mayor should be well-versed in these issues – this is a basic requirement – but he must interact with the population and take part in public affairs. Otherwise, he won’t survive because political competition is very acute in Russia.

Russia is in the grip of a legitimacy crisis, hence all the protest we have been seeing. The authorities are trying to do something so as to establish a way of getting feedback from the people, either by reviving certain ideas or devising new ones. In all other countries, public television is one of these feedback channels; it is a mouthpiece, a rostrum, from which ordinary people can speak to both society and the authorities.

If Russia's government was more gender-balanced, politics in this country would have a more human touch to it, with more money allocated for medicine, education, science and the like. The predominance of men in politics results in unreasonably high spending on defense and the oil & gas industry, leaving public services in the backseat.

A protest group of intellectuals and students with consistent views has formed in Russia. There will be no decline in this movement, as it will continuously be reinvigorated by new developments. People enjoy rallies and other such events because interactions on social networks and the Internet are not enough for them.

Many supporters of rightwing liberal views do not consider Prokhorov their leader. There are a few reasons for this. First, he has not a clearly defined political commodity; second, his attempts to reform the Right Cause party failed; and third, his dubious morals and scandal-tarred image.

We can only speculate about the next Duma lineup. The latest surveys conducted by major Russian pollsters suggest the house will be dominated by three parties, including United Russia, the Communist Party and, probably, the Liberal Democratic Party.