Kasparov’s New Game
ByNobody likes a smart aleck but I said more than two months ago that Kasparov’s new political life would make a great story. And here it is in the Guardian.
He is also aware of the risks he is running in attacking Putin. “I’m sure all my telephone lines are tapped. That’s normal practice in Russia. Here in England you have been arguing about the terrorism bill, but in Russia we live under conditions that are much worse without even being told. We understand that we live in a state that acts as a Soviet state, paying no attention to the constitutional rights of its citizens, but we assume there are still certain limits that they can’t cross.”
Initially, he says, he will be vilified. “I expect vicious attacks from the government-run press and television. They will make a laughing-stock of me, saying: ‘What does a chess player know about politics?’ I know that the worst is yet to come – most of the things I expect in the next few months will be very negative.”
He also recognises the danger of more serious retribution. “These people have no allergy to blood. But you have to act. If I convince myself I have to act, I do act. If I believe that I am doing the right thing at the right time, I don’t consider the risk factors. It’s a part of the game.”
He also has some interesting things to say about European leaders’ attitudes to Putin.
“Putin has learned that because of certain geopolitical realities – the war on terror, high oil prices – he is immune to criticism. He knows that he will have enough political support from Chirac, Schröder, Berlusconi, Blair, all of whom are supporting a criminal regime in Russia.”
3 Comments
August 5th, 2005 at 8:46 am
Hard to know what Kasparov’s political credentials are or will be, but as things stand at the moment in Russia, you’ve got to be tempted to be grateful that anyone should come along and challenge Putin’s one-man-show. Kasparov has already shown that he’s got a brilliant mind; let’s now see if he can stick out the rigours of Russian opposition politics. So many others seem to have dwindled or been swatted down before him.
August 5th, 2005 at 9:00 am
I agree that we should be grateful but let’s face it, he doesn’t stand a hope in hell. Not because he’s a chess champ but because he’s Jewish. There’s no way Russians would elect a Jewish president. He’ll be lucky if he gets more than 5 per cent of the vote—if he makes it that far.
August 5th, 2005 at 9:29 am
Yes, I didn’t mention the J-word, but obviously you’re right that it would take a population transfer for Russians to elect a Jewish president. But I think, if he plays his cards right and doesn’t immediately alienate half the population with his early political overtures, he could meet with some limited success. As you are aware – it was you who told me, in fact – Yavlinski (sorry, can’t bring myself to write -sky) – is Jewish and has been head of Russia’s most (admittedly, not very) successful liberal party, and is, I would say, a respected political figure. How far he could go is another question, and there was never any likelihood of him getting to the top, of course, and his star (and the stars of all other liberals – and I use that word not in its American swear-word sense – too) has, in any case, waned since the depressing last parliamentary elections. There’s actually some discussion of whether Russians could ever elect a Jewish president on http://www.yabloko.ru, although I’m in the middle of a dreary piece of work and am too frail to dare look at what I might find on there! In any case, it will be interesting to see how Kasparov’s profile develops. He is right to think he’ll be dragged through the mud to start with. But will he come out gleaming on the other side? (I somehow doubt it.) But I can’t think of how Putin/Russia will be able to work out a Khodorkovski-style fate for him. ÚÑÂтðтø, it’ll also be interesting to see, if Mr. Yukos is ever released,what sort of esteem he’ll be held in by the Russian people. (He’s one of the less hated oligarchs, if I’ve gauged the mood rightly.)