Absence of Political Competition Increases Gap Between Rich and Poor in Russia, Sherin Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 20 – Wealth is more concentrated at the top of the Russian political system more than in any other country, Aleksandr Sherin says, the result of the elimination of real competition in the political system and something that provides stability for the top but precludes the economic development of the country.

            The LDPR Duma deputy says that the current arrangements in Russia works well for the rich around the throne but not for everyone else or the country as a whole because it precludes “the growth of the well-being of the citizens and economic development” (realtribune.ru/sherin-otsutstvie-konkurencii-v-politike-uvelichivaet-razryv-mezhdu-bogatymi-i-bednymi).

            It is impossible to “build an advanced and developed economy and to create a comfortable and dignified level of life for citizens without a middle class and without a large number of people with good incomes,” Sherin continues. But that is exactly what the defense of wealth at the top is blocking.

            According to him, “in the future, the ruling class will continue on its course of keeping power in the hands of one political force. In order not to create competitors in the political arena, the system will try to concentrate the main wealth of the country in the hands of a very narrow circle of people.”

            “Such an approach,” the LDPR deputy says, “allows for the administration of people and financial flows, guaranteeing themselves personal stability and flourishing.” But they win economically and politically only by depriving everyone else of economic possibilities and the chance to make alternative political choices.