Matviyenko: Navalny to add spice to Moscow mayoral election

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 11, 2013) Opposition candidate Alexei Navalny will add spice to the Moscow mayoral election and draw Muscovites to polling stations, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko told Interfax.

“The participation of Navalny in this campaign will make it heated and draw attention to the mayoral election and this interesting candidate. It will capture the attention of Muscovites, and there is nothing bad about that,” Matviyenko said.

Navalny’s participation in the election prompts “many to trim their sails to the wind,” she remarked.

“Let him (Navalny) take part in the election, offer his program and platform and gain approval instead of disparaging everything in an indiscriminate way. Obstacles to inconvenient candidates must stop. I will be watching this election with interest,” Matviyenko said.

She said Acting Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin told her he wanted a really competitive election.

“He (Sobyanin) truly wants the Moscow mayoral election to prove that ballots can be transparent and open and that real rivals, even if they are opposition members, can have access to the election process,” Matviyenko said.

She believes this policy will help avoid speculation about the results.

“As a rule, people who are barred from elections or lose immediately accuse the ballot of being biased or non-transparent. I like the policy of Sergei Semyonovich,” Matviyenko said.

Navalny’s participation in the election is a good sign, she said. “Possibly, people who support him would prefer his being barred from the election. Let Navalny take part in this election and give a good account of himself to at least prevent such allegations,” Matviyenko said.