New York Times: the vacuum in the opposition is increasingly felt with the murder of Nemtsov

“Boris Nemtsov, the Kremlin critic gunned down last week, has always stood out among the motley collection of former ministers, retired intelligence officers, billionaire oligarchs, intellectuals and other members of Russia's lukewarm liberal opposition,” writes New York Times correspondent Neil MacFarquhar.

Now the question is whether, after his death, the opposition will be able to establish itself in the political life of the country, or even more deeply plunge into obscurity and insignificance.

“For years,” writes MacFarquhar, “the Liberals have been split into at least half a dozen political parties with confusing, forgettable names and no distinctive identity.” Experts say that since they could not overcome the struggle for leadership and develop a common platform, their only common slogan was: “Down with Putin!”

Voters are not impressed.

“The vast majority remain grateful to Putin for bringing stability and prosperity after the economic hardship and gangster chaos that began after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991,” the author writes.

“In Russia, the word ‘security’ has two meanings: national security and social security,” said political scientist Gleb Pavlovsky, arguing that in the eyes of Russians “both of these concepts are combined in one word - Putin.”

The Kremlin has used its monopoly on state television to position opposition figures as Western puppets, daily drumming into their heads that government critics are a “fifth column” or, as Putin puts it, “national traitors” working for other people’s interests, the author writes.

“No doubt, the liberal opposition is finding it difficult to find followers, especially outside Moscow and St. Petersburg, partly because many opposition figures are blacklisted by state news agencies. But she also tended to focus on one or two issues that seemed explosive - like corruption - but which the public largely ignored,” MacFarquhar notes.

“They tell people that their government is corrupt, and people respond: “Yes, we know, but the pension is paid on time,” says publicist Konstantin von Eggert. The opposition needs to make more efforts to “create its own brand,” he is sure.

Analysts say the Liberals may be able to attract about 15% of the national vote, but first they need to create a platform centered on a kind of “patriotic liberalism.”

“For example, last year there were demonstrations in Moscow due to budget cuts in the healthcare sector. Liberals could create a platform based on social and economic change, experts say, pointing in particular to supporting entrepreneurs and removing at least 50% of the economy from state control,” the article says.

“Von Eggert believes that the opposition would be much more successful if it acted like a government waiting to be appointed, that is, if it had its own position on a wide range of issues, rather than simply reacting piecemeal to the Kremlin’s policies,” MacFarquhar reports.

The economic downturn can also help strengthen the position of the liberals: inflation can reach 15%, and the country can fall into recession.

As opposition leader Dmitry Gudkov says, “this could become a fight between the TV and the refrigerator: people get information on TV, but if the refrigerator is empty, they stop believing the propaganda.”