Fictional Russian hopefuls in 2012 elections
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Russia’s presidential elections on 4 March are creeping ever closer. Following demonstrations across Russia in the wake of parliamentary elections in December, the run-away favourite Vladimir Putin is now more of a walk-away favourite. Who else is in this one-horse race?
Vladimir Putin, united Russia
Who? The former KGB agent (59) from St Petersburg captured the Russian media’s heart when he claimed in gangster slang that Russian forces would ‘kill the terrorists in the toilet’
Why vote for him? With opinion polls placing him in a strong first position with 48% of the vote, he’ll probably win anyway
Why not vote for him? Vladimir Vladimirovich coined the phrase ‘managed democracy’. No one with such an Orwellian capacity for manipulating language should be given this much power
Fictional character:Raskolnikov, in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, demonstrates the concept of the Napoleonic man –who believes he is entitled to commit crimes because he is destined for great things
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, liberal democratic party of Russia
Who? An ultra-nationalist from what is now Kazakhstan, suspected of being manipulated by the kremlin to neutralise potential right-wing voters
Why vote for him? Over the last 20 years, Zhirinovsky (65) has variously promised free vodka and free underwear for all should he be elected president
Why not vote for him? The one-time friend of Saddam Hussein has been described as a fascist, a neo-fascist and a clown
Fictional character: Zhirinovsky is as absurd as any of Gogol’s characters, such as fellow army man, major Kovalyov in The Nose
Mikhail Prokhorov, independent
Who? Moscow-born Prokhorov (47) is a shining example of a ‘new Russian’, having made his billions in the 1990s
Why vote for him? As the independent candidate standing, he could herald a breath of fresh air
Why not vote for him? For anyone out there who can’t afford caviar, Prokhorov represents the class which ‘stole’ Russia’s raw materials in the 1990s, creating a vastly unequal society
Fictional character: Like Tatarsky in Victor Pelevin’s postmodern epic Generation P, this sweet-talker made his money quick and easy in the 1990s
Sergey Mironov, fair Russia
Who? The one-time chairman of the upper house of the Russian parliament (from 2001 to 2011) is also effectively the leader of the opposition, as head of the centre-left party fair Russia
Why vote for him?Mironov is one of the less extreme politicians standing: he’s against the death penalty and sees cooperation with the USA as inevitable, if not desirable
Why not vote for him? Compared to the other candidates, the 60-year-old from outside St Petersburg is just a bit boring
Fictional character:Trofimov in Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard is an impassioned left-wing political commentator, representing growing desire for political reform, albeit a century earlier
Gennady Zyuganov, communist party of the Russian federation
Who? A long-term, hard-line communist originally from Mymrino, a village south of Moscow, who was a vocal critic of Gorbatchov’s liberalisation of the USSR in the 1980s and hasn’t changed much since
Why vote for him? This veteran of presidential elections came second in the 1996, 2000 and 2008 elections: surely he should have the chance to win this once?
Why not vote for him?Zyuganov (68) thinks Russia ought to return to the state it was in when he became an active member of the communist party a good twenty years before the soviet union collapsed
Fictional character: Zyuganov’s love of all things Russian is reminiscent of Oblonsky, Anna Karenina’s brother
Image: main (cc) Mr Strangestaine/ Flickr; Mironov ©Сергей Миронов (Sergey Mironov)/Facebook; Zhirinovsky © courtesy of Facebook groupVladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky