Prokhorov will have problems winning electorate - analyst
MOSCOW. June 4 (Interfax) - Businessman Mikhail Prokhorov, who has announced details of his political project, will not have problems getting his party registered, but it will probably be difficult for him to mobilize an electorate, said political analyst Gleb Pavlovsky.
"I don't think Prokhorov will have problems getting his party registered. In fact, most of the parties that apply for registration have no problems of this kind. The problem is whether this compact party will be able to work with a rather amorphous, opposition-minded and not-so-peaceable civil contingent, Pavlovsky told Interfax on Monday.
In order to win a political future Prokhorov will have to draw citizens who once cast their votes for him, he said. "Prokhorov has proposed an original project, but it will be tested in municipal elections on the Single Polling Day in October. Prokhorov's success or failure will be judged from whether his political project will be accepted or rejected by those who voted for him," Pavlovsky said.
It will be difficult to persuade the electorate to vote for the new party, he said. "Voters will have to accept not only the general program and principles, declared by Prokhorov, but to see a place for themselves in this new organizational structure. The backbone of civil activists, on whom this politician relies, will have to be very well mobilized, which is not an easy thing to do. Mr. Prokhorov has taken too long a pause. He is under time pressure to draw civil activists," Pavlovsky said.
"Generally, one will have to understand how he sees the structure of the political force he is proposing. His project is of dual nature, a sort of a nest doll which combines at once a party and an association of civil activists," the expert said.
But the electorate has been selected rationally, Pavlovsky said. "The recent elections demonstrated that Prokhorov is mostly supported in large cities," he said.
Businessman and ex-presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov has announced he is setting up a Civil Platform Party of 500 members.