RUSSIAN "OBAMA" GAINS FAVOR IN LOCAL ELECTIONS

Deutsche Welle
Sept 21 2009
Germany

Political spin doctors in Russia didn’t know what they were getting
when they enlisted an African-born man to run in local elections. They
wanted reaction votes for United Russia, but what they got was a
Russian "Obama."

For the some 100,000 African immigrants in Russia, racism is part
of daily life and, unlike in the US and many parts of Europe, there
has never been a politician with black skin in the country – until
now. Joakim Crima, who was born in Guinea-Bissau and now lives near
the city of Volgograd in the country’s southwest, will be taking part
in the upcoming regional elections on October 11.

Crima came to Russia 20 years ago as a university student. Since that
time he has gotten a Russian passport, and made his home in a poor
provincial region in the southwest of Russia where most people have
neither access to gas supply lines nor to water pipes.

Dissatisfaction with local politics there is is high.

Bildunterschrift: GroÃ~_ansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Afraid at first, the town has opened up to Crima A couple of months
ago a political spin doctor associated with the local branch of the
Kremlin-backed party United Russia got to know Crima, and decided to
prop him up as an independent candidate. His mission: turn him into a
"Russian Obama."

Crima was all for the idea, despite the fact that he knew Moscow was
hoping that a black candidate running as an independent would attract
protest votes for them.

The evolution of acceptance

The sellers hawking their wares at the vegetable market of the
tiny town of Srednaya Ahtuba welcome Joakim Crima warmly. "Our new
governor," one man greets him; others ask him about the progress of
his election campaign.

The market on the side of the road feels like home for the 37-year-old
man. He is the owner of one of the stands here, where his Armenian
wife sells watermelons and onions.

Bildunterschrift: GroÃ~_ansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
In a sly maneuver, the Kremlin backed Crima But it wasn’t always this
way. Crima said that when he moved here, he noticed that people were
crossing to the other side of the road once they saw him, which he
took as a clear sign that they wanted to get away from him.

"Then I had an idea," he said. "I started going up to people and told
them them not to be afraid of me; I am a good guy. And so people here
slowly got used to me. And these days many people are crossing the
road to my side only to say hello to me.

So despite starting out as merely someone to scare people into voting
for the establishment, Crima has become a genuine candidate. His
opinion poll ratings are going up, according to Andrey Serenko,
a political journalist from Volgograd.

Serenko said that unlike the other candidates, who arrive in fancy
cars when they come campaigning and then leave again, Crima is one
of the regular people.

A solution for the solution

Crima’s popularity is also increasing because part of his election
strategy is to praise Russian Premier Vladimir Putin and the
Kremlin-backed party "United Russia". All this is giving the political
establishment of the region – including those who helped to create
Crima as a political phenomenon – even more reason to worry.

Bildunterschrift: GroÃ~_ansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Will another "Obama" ruin Crima’s chances?

Now suddenly, a second dark-skinned candidate appeared on the scene
– more than likely on orders from Moscow. The 34-year-old architect
Fillip Kondratvev from Volgograd has a Russian mother and a father from
Ghana and is heavily criticizing Crima for not being a real Russian.

According to Serenko, Kondratvev is merely there for damage control;
a "new missile that is supposed to harm the first missile."

"He is supposed to knock out Joakim Crima. All these actions taken
here show one thing: The people in power have gotten quite a fright
from Crima."

Joakim Crima himself is, so far, quite indifferent to all
this. However, he is interested in pursuing a political career, maybe
even in Moscow. And whatever the outcome of the elections in October,
the widely reported candidacy of Joakim Crima might have helped open
the way for dark-skinned people into Russian politics in the future.