Alliance of Radical Communists and Navalny Supporters Nightmare for Kremlin, Andreychuk Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, April 8 -- Over the last few months, the KPRF has become increasingly radicalized and has acted more like a real opposition party rather than a systemic one, three Zona Media journalists say. And while party leaders fear the dangers of going too far, many lower-ranking communists are now prepared to form an alliance with Aleksey Navalny’s movement.

            Anna Kozkina, Dima Shvets, and Anastasiya Yasenitskaya say that “branches of the KPRF throughout Russia have become the object of the close attention of the siloviki and communists have been subject to searches, arrests and fines.” Despite some radical statements, party head Gennady Zyuganov has tried to rein them in (zona.media/article/2021/04/08/kprf).

            The party leader has expelled some members who have called for an alliance of opposition figures but that has done little to slow the radicalization of KPRF members, many of whom now appear to feel they have more in common with other opposition groups than with their own party leaders and the cooperative attitudes of the latter.

            Stanislav Andreychuk, vice president of the Golos voters’ rights group, suggests that “the accustomed political landscape of Russia is changing and that the border between ‘systemic’ and ‘non-systemic’ oppositions is dissolving,” arguing that “what is happening with the KPRF is evidence of that.” The Kremlin is responding with repression given the Duma elections.  

            Communists are angry not only about the repressions but also about the fact that their cooperation with the Kremlin has not allowed them to occupy as many gubernatorial positions as they did. Instead, the powers that be are preventing KPRF candidates from running even or perhaps especially where they would win.

            According to Andreychuk, “the KPRF now is the only registered party in Russia which is in any way like a political party in its classical sense. All the rest are either quasi-clubs, business projects and the like.” And among its ranks, there are people who are ready to act like “independent politicians.”

            That represents an ever-greater problem for the Kremlin. Not only are angry people more likely to vote for the KPRF but “the intelligent voting” Navalny advocates would benefit the KPRF more than almost any other group. That was shown in the Moscow city council elections, and the powers fear it could happen in the Duma vote if KPRF candidates are registered.

            According to the Golos leader, “the powers that be are seriously concerned about ‘intelligent voting’ and the prospects of the KPRF in the Duma elections.” They are even more worried about “a possible alliance of communists with the Navalny command.” For the Kremlin and United Russia, that prospect is in truth “’a nightmare,’” he says.

            The Kremlin’s response is to repress the most radical communists and to force Zyuganov to rein in his troops. But these actions may have the effect of radicalizing communist ranks still further and forcing Zyuganov to choose between following his followers or not having a party at all.