A small gesture and a strong symbol of Russian opposition to Putin

Published on: 03/13/2024 – 08:40

6 minutes

Vladimir Putin may fear that one of his wishes for the March 15-17 presidential election will come true: to see Russians turn out in large numbers. Especially if it is the last day, and the afternoon is sharp. This is not good news for the outgoing president seeking a fifth term.

Indeed, it may be difficult to motivate Russian voters to participate in elections without stakes and real opposition. Apart from responding to the call of “Midi against Putin”, the last civil action supported by Alexei Navalny before his death. “Knowing to what extent this initiative launched today by Navalny’s widow will mobilize voters is in my view the only interesting data from this election,” assures Matthew Wyman, an expert on Russian politics at Keele University (United Kingdom).

“Navalani’s Political Legacy”.

The promoters of “Midi against Putin” want Russians to wait until noon on Sunday March 17 to go to their polling stations. They don’t care which candidate they vote for as long as they arrive at that particular time. Thus, they will be able to signal opposition to Vladimir Putin and support for the ongoing war in Ukraine.

“This will be our way to sabotage the election,” assured Maxim Reznik, an anti-Russian activist in exile and originator of the idea, interviewed by Meduza, an independent Russian news site. He proposed it during a debate – “What to do for the election of the President?” – Aired on opposition channel Dojd in January 2024.

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Since then, most of the major figures in the Russian opposition have shown their support for the “Putin vs. Midi” initiative, starting with the late Alexei Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation, which never misses an opportunity to do so. . So much so that the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta described the call as a “novel political testament”.

“It is indeed fully in the spirit of the actions promoted by a famous opponent of Vladimir Putin,” underlines Matthew Wyman. “Above all, he asked everyone to make small, simple, low-risk gestures that, taken together, could make a difference,” adds Jenny Mathers, a Russia expert at the University of Aberystwyth, Wales. .

“An Afternoon Against Putin” fits perfectly into this framework. No special effort is required to reach the polling station at the specified time and the risk is minimal. “The beauty of this initiative is that people will show their opposition to the war and the regime by doing exactly what those in power ask of them: going to vote,” summarizes Matthew Wyman. The police will have a hard time justifying the arrest of voters who are fulfilling their civic duty.

It is also important to start with small actions. The government “has done a lot of damage to the opposition in Russia in recent years, and Yulia Navalny, who has taken the torch from her husband and actively supports the ‘Midi against Putin,’ knows that we must not go any further. This is just a solid opposition. The first small stone in rebuilding,” notes Jenny Mathers.

Get an idea of ​​how many Russians opposed the war

Matthew Wyman explains that this type of action shows “the creativity that must be shown to evade arrest by an opponent”. “Afternoon Against Putin” is part of a long list of initiatives in the same spirit: there were demonstrators who printed white sheets of paper to symbolize censorship of any criticism of the war, or activists who added QR codes to ordinary billboards. Access sites critical of Vladimir Putin. “It is a symptom of the regime’s authoritarian excesses, and this kind of initiative reminds the Chinese that they should use indirect means to criticize Xi Jinping by comparing him, for example, to Winnie the Pooh”, notes Jenny Mathers.

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And so what? “It’s clear that it’s not an ‘afternoon against Putin’ that will prevent Vladimir Putin from winning the presidential election,” Jenny Mathers recognizes. On the other hand, “it would be a good way to get a more precise idea of ​​the number of Russians who opposed the war”, estimates Matthew Wyman.

The crowd gathered for Alexei Navalny’s funeral has already given a glimpse of this. “But above all it was about Muscovites who made the trip to the cemetery. There, there is a way for Russians of all regions to show their opposition to Putin by going to the polling station on Sunday (March 17) afternoon,” notes Stephen Hall, a Russia expert at the University of Bath.

Stealing the media spotlight from Putin

According to this expert, one of the main challenges of this operation is mobilization elsewhere than Moscow or St. Petersburg. “Vladimir Putin has always counted on popular support on the outskirts of major urban centers. If long lines form everywhere in Russia in front of polling stations on Sunday afternoon, he may start to worry about the real level of his popularity,” explains Stephen. Hall.

Another challenge of “An Afternoon Against Putin” is to steal the media spotlight from the Kremlin. The government “does not want any problems during these three days of voting to be able to impose its narrative”, underlines Jenny Mathers. “Vladimir Putin absolutely wants all the newspaper headlines to be dedicated only to his big victory to perpetuate the myth that Putin is Russia. We will make sure that we also talk about the spectacle of people supporting ‘Putin vs Midi'”, assures . Maxim Reznik.

“It’s about creating a counter-narrative,” says Matthew Wyman. Both so that Russians opposed to the regime don’t feel alone, but also “to let the world know that Russia is not just about Vladimir Putin and there is a movement to support”, concludes Jenny Mathers. People are still required to be present in front of polling stations till 12 noon on Sunday.