Political Analyst Lilit Dallakyan Criticizes Kremlin’s Exclusion of Opposition Candidates from Russian Elections

YEREVAN — Political analyst Lilit Dallakyan published a post on Facebook in which she raised what she described as a recurring and puzzling question.

“The Russian president is regarded—particularly by certain circles in Armenia—as a strong, confident leader who is loved in his country,” Dallakyan wrote. “Even those who criticize him are often rebuked with the words: ‘Who are you, insignificant people, to criticize him?’

“Yet the Kremlin, which expresses concern about the democratic nature of elections in Armenia—and apparently we, too, may now allow ourselves to speak about elections in Russia—is afraid to permit even moderate and loyal opposition figures, such as representatives of the Yabloko party or Boris Nadezhdin, to participate in State Duma elections.

“Russia’s Central Election Commission announced that it had lost documents submitted by certain members of the party—and this is not a joke—even though those individuals had recorded the submission process on video.

“The Central Election Commission refused to register them, while Nadezhdin was declared a ‘foreign agent.’

“The question is: What would happen if the State Duma included opposition figures who mildly criticized Putin, sometimes without even mentioning his name?

“This, of course, speaks volumes about the Russian leader’s confidence in himself and in his own power,” Dallakyan concluded.