RUSSIA: Communists target academics

Russia's Communist Party is targeting university academics and intellectuals in next Sunday's crucial parliamentary elections, with a Moscow party list headed by Nobel prize-winning physicist Zhores Alferov.

The 77 year-old vice president of the prestigious Russian Academy of Sciences is urging all ‘thinking’ Russians to vote Communist in the elections which most observers predict will see a landslide victory for President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party.

In bold glossy red and white election pamphlets that supporters were handing out across Moscow at metro stations, bus stops and workplaces last week, the youthful looking Alferov is seen smiling, fist raised in a traditional workers salute alongside his election credo: "KPRF [Communist Party of the Russian Federation] – a choice for all who think and work. It's the party of the people."

Alferov is second only to party leader Gennady Zuganov – a former teacher from Russia's 'red belt' city of Kursk, famous here as the site of history's greatest tank battle in 1943. He heads a Moscow party list that includes Ivan Melnikov, a professor at Moscow State University and Oleg Smolin, a blind member of Russia's parliament, a former deputy chairman of its education committee and champion for the rights of disabled people.

Vladimir Ulas, an air force colonel and corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Cosmonauts, makes up the Moscow Communist spearhead.

In a sharp departure from earlier general election campaigns, where the party relied heavily on its 'glorious' past and the unwavering loyalty of its ageing supporters, this year's election pitch is decidedly modern.

Posing "questions for Muscovites” and “answers from Communists", the leaflet hits out at Putin's "façade of stability" – with a list of criticisms of the President's claims of prosperity in white print on a black background. This includes such gems as Russia's position in the world health care league tables: 125th, and the relative value of a state pension: 4,000 roubles (US$165) or a mere 13% of Moscow average earnings.

The party's answers appear in sharp relief, red and black on white, with the traditional mix of bigger pensions and more money for health care and education. It is a decidedly social democratic message, in contrast to that seen in earlier elections since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

"Today, people continue to use Communism to scare. These ‘history lovers' are simply afraid of losing power ... Don't believe television propaganda! KPRF – a modern party, that will bring back the best from Soviet times and support powerful economic development in the interests of the country and its citizens," the leaflet declares.

In an election with 11 parties contesting 450 seats, and where voting is by proportional representation, the Communists are the only serious opposition to United Russia. They will not win but their modern, glossy and upbeat fist-punching message may attract more votes among Russia's hard-pressed academics and intellectuals than in previous post-Soviet elections.