Transitions online, Czech Rep.
Nov 6 2013
Self-exiled Kasparov requests Latvian citizenship
Garry Kasparov
Former chess champion and Russian opposition leader Garry Kasparov
wants to acquire Latvian citizenship, Reuters reports.
Kasparov made the request in a letter to Latvian parliamentarians
dated 31 October.
“The letter is genuine. We submitted it and are his representatives.
Tomorrow [6 November] we will start discussions with the political
parties,” family friend Arturs Avotins told AFP.
Kasparov, 50, a longtime Kremlin critic, writes, “As a Latvian
citizen, I will obtain the chance to engage without restriction in
political activities in the name of democracy, peace, and justice in
Russia.”
Reuters quotes another passage of the letter as saying, “Every Latvian
has the right to express his opinion freely, participate in the
political process, and not be afraid of unlawful persecution.”
A spokeswoman for the Unity party, part of the ruling coalition, said
Kasparov wanted to retain his Russian citizenship as well. Under
Latvian law, dual citizenship with Russia can be granted to
individuals of special merit or to those who have been of service to
Latvia, AFP reports. The mother of Kasparov’s son Vadim, Yulia, is
Latvian.
Kasparov, regarded as among the greatest chess players of all time,
turned to politics after his chess career and was a leader of the
Other Russia opposition coalition in the mid-2000s. In June he fled
Russia, saying he feared arrest for taking part in anti-government
demonstrations, later telling David Frost he would not be returning to
the country. He may now be in the United States or Switzerland, AFP
writes.
3. Tajik migrants largely excluded from presidential vote
Tajikistanis are electing a president today, but the most economically
active segment of the population is largely excluded from the process,
EurasiaNet.org comments.
“[T]he lack of genuine electoral options is a source of frustration
for an important constituency – the million-strong community of Tajik
labor migrants in Russia,” EurasiaNet.org’s David Trilling writes.
Annually, remittances sent home by migrant workers based mostly in
Russia amount to the equivalent of nearly half the country’s gross
domestic product, the World Bank estimates.
The Russian Migration Service estimates that 1.2 million Tajikistanis
work in the country. Tajikistan’s population is around 8 million.
“In a competitive election, the vote of this migrant population could
swing the outcome and would be something that politicians eagerly
courted. But throughout the campaign authorities have kept the migrant
population marginalized, its leaders complain,” Trilling writes.
Observers concur that incumbent President Imomali Rahmon will easily
overcome his five obscure challengers to win another seven-year term.
Oynihol Bobonazorova, a candidate whose background as a human rights
activist might have drawn migrants to her campaign, was excluded from
the race for failing to gather the required 210,000 signatures.
The elections commission will not accept signatures from migrants
because Tajikistani officials cannot certify them, EurasiaNet.org
writes.
Some migrants in St. Petersburg and nearby districts cast early
ballots 4 November, Asia-Plus reports.
Tajikistani election workers set up polling stations in 24 Russian
cities and regions.
However, an elections commission spokeswoman interviewed by
EurasiaNet.org last week was unable to specify where the polling
stations would be located. A foreman in charge of a work crew of 100
Tajiks in Moscow said he did not know where to vote.