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Russia’s car owners driven to politics
by Scott Gilbreath ~ January 16th, 2009
After Russia announced increased import tariffs on cars last month to support the faltering domestic automobile industry, Russians demonstrated in the streets of Vladivostok. Despite being trounced by riot police, protests spread to other cities.
Now Russian car enthusiasts are organising and making broader political demands. Some are calling for a general strike on 31 January if the tariffs are not rolled back. A new group has emerged with a wide-ranging agenda.
Calling itself TIGR (from the first letters of the Russian words for Comradeship of Activist Citizens of Russia) and using the Siberian tiger on its shield to “symbolize the freedom-loving quality and beauty of that Far Eastern animal,” the group which appeared only last week has set up a web forum (http://the-right.org/forum/) and put forward 16 major demands.
Those demands include three closely related to the automobile owners’ interests – reduction of import duties, no ban on right-side driving wheels, and a reduction in price for gas – and four more economic ones – no increase in price for communal services, higher pay for workers, higher pensions, and an end to mass dismissals from work.
But nine demands – and all are listed at iskra-tigr.ru/ideologia/trebovaniya/ — are political: the dismissal of the government, freedom speech, an end to limitations on protests, a reversal on limitations on jury trials and the definition of treason, a defense of the Constitution, a reduction in the size of the bureaucracy, the adoption of serious anti-corruption measures, the restoration of the “against all” provision on ballots, and the election of governors.
No one seems to know very much about TIGR. Could it be a legitimate expression of civil society? A front for political subversives? A government group giving authorities a pretext to crack down on dissent?
It does seem to have moved beyond a bunch of disgruntled consumers looking for inexpensive and reliable foreign cars.
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