| polit. |
pro-regime liberals (Ivan Pisarev); systemic liberals (Many of the Systemic Liberals were deeply involved in Putin's early 1990s schemes, for example running fake "municipal casinos." The term "systemic" when used in reference to parties in Russia refers to parties that imitate opposition within the Duma while also playing along with the Kremlin's rules. When it refers to officials within government, it usually means that they do not come from a law enforcement, military, or KGB background, but instead are economists and academics who attempt to lead Russian economic policy toward budgetary responsibility. Thus, they never criticize Putin's political decisions, but are allowed to publicly state criticisms of the government's economic policy. VLZ_58) |
