Vladimir Putin just found his opponent for next year’s presidential election. And unlike his politically better known opposition, this one will not be jailed anytime soon.
Her name is Ms Ksenia Sobchak.
She is the daughter of his former mentor, the former mayor of St Petersburg, Mr Anatoly Sobchak.
Back when Boris Yeltsin was president in the 1990s, Mr Sobchak touted young Vladimir Putin as a future national leader, back then his loyal deputy and close confidante.
So you can be sure that young Ksenia is well connected in the Kremlin.
Yesterday, during her TV show, she read the text confirming her candidacy: “The decision is made. Enough silence, I’ve thought about it for months … I intend to be the candidate for those who want to vote against everyone.”
It was the news that everyone expected to come at a certain point, and no doubt Ms Sobchak can indeed get some percentages away from Mr Putin, but at the same time she also risks splitting up the opposition into two camps. The only other credible candidate so far to oppose Mr Putin next year is fellow liberal Mr Alexei Navalny. The news that Ms Sobchak will run is a blow to Mr Navalny’s hopes, and a split in the opposition now seems likely.
<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">Ksenia Sobchak announces entrance to presidential race <a href="https://t.co/WJZESBbv6C">https://t.co/WJZESBbv6C</a> <a href="https://t.co/w1Btp420lP">pic.twitter.com/w1Btp420lP</a></p>— Ruptly (@Ruptly) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ruptly/status/920775607255887872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2017</a></blockquote>
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For Ms Sobchak, 36 years old, this marks a new beginning. As she was formerly known as the Paris Hilton of Russia (famous for being famous), she now wants to become the Chelsea Clinton.
Most of her professional life has been a synonym of sex and celebrity. She was the host of local reality show Big Brother, and showed up on many entertained tabloids with host of scandalous relationships. One time, she lectured a radio host who was critical of her: “If I’m honest, your problem is that you’ve got an inferiority complex. You know you’re not quite a star.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Putin's mentor's daughter Ksenia Sobchak to run for Russian President.<br>Now here is a Russian I would collude with <a href="https://t.co/IqKBBh3pB8">pic.twitter.com/IqKBBh3pB8</a></p>— George Washington (@GW1stPOTUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/GW1stPOTUS/status/920872605707571200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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More recently, she has taken up an active role during the mass anti-government protests of 2011 and continued well into 2012. She is outspoken on political issues and can indeed put up an intellectual conversation if asked.
Source:
http://www.dw.com/en/ksenia-sobchak-from-russian-socialite-to-putins-opponent/a-41016022
Putin is alright and all, but DAAAAAAMN… she's got my vote (and whatever else she needs).
9969 - Oh yeah, I'd sign up for a debate with her as well.
Now it will be a lot more fun to watch a Presidential debate if she dresses like that!