The allegation that President Vladimir Putin gave an order to release from custody oppositionist Alexei Navalny on recognizance not to leave the city is silly to say the least, Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said live on the radio station Business FM. Meanwhile, the political experts are contemplating the conflict of interests inside the ruling elite over the criminal case versus Navalny.
On Monday, several media outlets have made the reports that Sergei Sobyanin asked the country’s authorities to assist in the release of the oppositionist, after Navalny was sentenced to a real five-year term in prison over the Kirovles criminal case, the Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily reported. Meanwhile, the references were made to an unnamed representative of the Moscow mayor. Alongside, the suppositions were voiced that First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Vyacheslav Volodin also asked Putin to release the oppositionist from custody.
Commenting on these reports, Dmitry Peskov called them silly to say the least. “I do not have any information on this issue. Then it is silly at least to say at all that the president gave an order and Navalny was released from custody. This means not to be aware of how the judicial authorities are structured,” he noted.
“The court verdict to take Alexei Navalny in custody in the courtroom was appealed in the legal way, and it is absolutely illogical and incorrect to involve the president in this issue somehow,” the Russian president’s press secretary noted.
Dmitry Peskov said earlier that Vladimir Putin is aware of the situation with Navalny, but he believes that the court verdict should be executed and not be commented on, the newspaper recalled. “This question is not a matter for the president of the country at all and has no relation to the president at all,” the Russian president’s press secretary noted.
The unexpected change of the measure of restraint to Alexei Navalny and Pyotr Ofitserov made many political experts and journalists say about the conflict of interests inside the ruling elite and even about its split, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily reported. One of the theories is the willingness of acting Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin to attain a high legitimacy through the rivalry with Navalny at the elections and at the same time the reluctance of some part of the elite to allow this legitimization of Sobyanin, his turning in de facto politician number three (or even number two) in the country.
In the country with weakly developed democratic institutions (in a country like Russia) the conflict inside the ruling elite can be a booster of changes, the newspaper believes. The opposition or the protesting movement can play their role in this process in the fulfilment of several compulsory conditions.
The first condition is massive nature of the protesting movement, the newspaper reported. The protesting movement or the opposition politicians should express the interests of millions of people and should be able to confirm this and show its potential.
The second condition is its highly representative character. The protesting movement should have social roots and the social base, reflect the interests of concrete groups or classes.
The third condition is its constructive nature. This means that the demands of the opposition should be accomplishable, the offered scenarios to settle the problems are realisable or accessible for changes.