WITH three months left until parliamentary elections, United Russia, Russia’s ruling party, has come up with a new slogan: Vazhno Vybrat’ Pravil’no. The message (“It is vital to choose correctly”) is an ominous reminder to voters that some choices may be “wrong”, and its acronym—VVP—hints at the correct one: Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. The party is not using his image in its campaign, for fear of dragging down his popularity.
In the last parliamentary elections in 2011, when a majority voted against United Russia, the Kremlin tampered with the results. This sparked mass protests in large cities. More than 100,000 people took to the streets of central Moscow clamouring for “Russia without Putin”. Alexei Navalny, a popular blogger, was transformed into a viable opposition leader. Mr Putin’s hold on power never looked shakier.
Since then, the Kremlin has been doing everything in its power to prevent a repeat. Anyone with an independent position has been “sent a signal that it will end badly”, says Maria Lipman, editor of …