Call for fair political competition and elections causes mixed reactions among elite

Author: Irina Kozlova Section: Major Events of the Month

Issue: March 2011, Vol. 6, No. 3

Tags: Kudrin

print-friendly version

Bureaucratic Bravery  

The speech of Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin at the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum, notably, the part calling for ‘political competition and fair elections,’ had the effect an exploded bomb.

The statement provoked active discussions of reasons that had forced the ‘ever-cautious Kudrin’ to touch issues considered ‘out of bounds’ among Russian elite.

Though Kudrin did not directly question the legitimacy of the current political regime and previous elections’ results, many politicians have understood the speech as questioning the current status quo. For example, the United Russia Party leadership has condemned the speech as ‘improper and erroneous.’