This is where all our problems come from. Roizman’s exclusion from the election is the most important news in the country. The central story, plain and simple. How one views this election without its main candidate is the most important political question. Every politician and every party should speak out on it.
And yet even in the independent media, it’s only the third story. But they endlessly discuss all sorts of nonsense about renaming Novorossiya to Malorossiya. Here come comments from Surkov, Peskov, and even Semyon Semyonovich Gorbunkov (a comic character from the classic Soviet film *The Diamond Arm*).
Of course: just look at what a ridiculous flag Malorossiya has! Stars and a crescent! Let’s write a hundred articles about that.
- Oh, and by the way, they barred the mayor of the country’s fourth-largest city from running in the election in its main industrial region.
- Fine, we’ll make it the fourth story, after the item about fidget spinners. Let’s get a comment from political analysts Alexei Galyamov and Abbas Gallyamov. Or whatever their names are — they comment on everything anyway.
I believe this issue is important, and I’ll state my view plainly:
The election should be boycotted. And not passively (just not showing up), but by actively urging everyone not to vote and to express their dissatisfaction.
Roizman himself also supports a boycott. Interestingly, YABLOKO, which nominated him (though of course he never should have gotten involved with them), also called for a boycott. I got enormous satisfaction from that, remembering how many articles, columns, and speeches YABLOKO’s leaders churned out about how harmful the boycott strategy is and how terrible Navalny is for effectively calling for a boycott of the State Duma elections.
Of course, the boycott strategy is a bad one. That goes without saying. It’s much better to take part in elections. But what are we supposed to do in this situation? Pick another candidate? Rally around a Communist or an A Just Russia candidate? That is exactly what the Kremlin wants from us. It wants us to behave like donkeys — the situation changes, but our position stays the same: we go to the polls no matter what.
Great — then they’ll never allow real candidates onto the ballot at all, if we keep showing up anyway just to argue over which of these weak, worthless stand-in candidates is the best.
In Sverdlovsk Region, the only option is a boycott. I urge all supporters to pursue it actively.
I’d be grateful if you could help spread this video specifically in the Urals.