What fly has stung the placid Russian Communists, they who are usually distinguished by their at least polite opposition to the Kremlin? Already, the theme of the meeting, organized a few days before the legislative elections of September 19, announced the color: “For fair elections, for media freedom. “
And now the speaker, party leader for the city of Moscow, adds. “People are not sure that their ballot will be counted, launches Valeri Rachkine to the fifty or so people gathered at the foot of the statue of the writer Alexander Pushkin, in the capital. Colossal frauds are brewing, through electronic voting, pressure on officials, vote buying. “
On the second theme of the day, the tone is no less conciliatory: “Freedom of expression is in a dead end. Thirty-six journalists have been killed in this country, and their killers have never been found. 867 media have been closed, 40 designated “foreign agents”… But the real “foreign agents” are in Parliament, in the government, they have accounts in Europe and send their children there to study! ” In the small crowd present, three attentive grandmothers frown. “It is true that it is more vehement than usual”, notes Anna Dacheva, a 64-year-old pensioner, not without sharing the criticism.
In the Duma, the lower house of Parliament, however, the tone is very different. With 43 elected Communists out of 450, including Valeri Rachkine, the KPRF is the first so-called “systemic” opposition party, that is to say loyal on the essentials. During the past term of office, the party stood out on one subject, the 2018 pension reform, which it strongly opposed and whose cancellation is the main argument of the 2021 campaign.
The “only” opposition party
How to explain the hardening of his speech? With the approach of the elections, this inflection is not unusual, like a game well established and understood by all, members of the party as representatives of power. Then there is the increased repression against civil society and dissenting voices, which is difficult to ignore.
But the real novelty is elsewhere: since the power has eliminated from the political game the opponents deemed uncontrollable, starting with the Navalny camp, the KPRF finds itself almost alone in being able to capture the protest vote. The polls suggest a score of 18%, against 34% for United Russia, the presidential party. Its position is all the more comfortable given that social issues are of greatest concern to the electorate, after eight years of continuous decline in living standards.
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