Of the six candidates challenging President Vladimir Putin in next month's presidential election, some say they are running to uphold liberal values, others to let people hear what their party has to say. Sergei Mironov is running for the presidency to help the president.
When announcing his decision in January to enter the race, Mironov -- a former geologist who is speaker of the Federation Council and No. 3 in the hierarchy of power -- said he was doing so to show that Putin is not alone.
"When a leader who is trusted goes into battle, he must not be left alone. One must stand beside him," said Mironov, whose ties to Putin date back at least to when both were involved in St. Petersburg politics in the mid-1990s.
By the time he started his campaign, though, Mironov had repackaged his message. He said the campaign would give him an opportunity to convey his ideas and judge how they are received.
"If the elections were some kind of game I would not participate," he told reporters at a news conference Feb. 16 to kick off his campaign.
Even so, his main purpose in running remains to play the role of Putin's backup man, while also trying to gain some political weight, which he sorely lacks, analysts said.
"His participation guarantees that the elections will take place, even if all other candidates pull out," said Vladimir Pribylovsky of Panorama.
"His post gives him the aura of a political heavyweight while in fact he is not," said Yury Korgunyuk of the Indem think tank, adding that Mironov seems to believe that his presidential campaign will allow him to increase his political influence.
Mironov said he would use the campaign to test his ideas.
"I would like to take advantage of this highest possible tribune to promote my ideas," Mironov said at the news conference, unveiling an eight-page brochure with his presidential platform.
"I will consider the number of votes I gain as a reaction to my ideas, which some might say are debatable," he said.
Mironov's ideas represent a familiar populist mix. If he is elected president, he promises to raise salaries tenfold by raising taxes on extracting natural resources and adopting a state monopoly on alcohol. Also, he supports imposing a life sentence for drug dealing.
Economic prosperity, he says, rests on boosting the manufacturing sector. He calls for changing the current situation in which 40 percent of Russia's information technology is imported.
While demonstrating unfaltering loyalty to the president, he has not shied away from criticizing the Cabinet.
"Have you seen anyone more closed to the people and the media than the Cabinet ministers?" Mironov said, adding that the dialogue between civil society and the authorities is like "a blind man's conversation with a deaf man."
His remarks of last week acquired some extra weight after Putin fired the Cabinet on Tuesday.
Mironov proposed passing legislation under which any Cabinet would automatically be fired after two years if it failed to improve living standards and provide security. "Such legislation should boost the responsibility of the Cabinet," he said.
In television debates on Channel One last Thursday, liberal candidate Irina Khakamada asked Mironov if he would have sacked former Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov for his inability to prevent the terrorist attacks that swept the country in the past two years.
"Ask the audience," Mironov answered, waving to the studio audience, which was dominated by police officers.
Mironov was born in the town of Pushkin near St. Petersburg in 1953. In his campaign leaflet, he wrote that he takes pride in his "peasant roots" and in having served as a paratrooper.
He spent 18 years as a geologist researching uranium deposits before quitting in 1991. He later joined the construction firm Revival of St. Petersburg, which specialized in restoration of the city's historical buildings.
In interviews posted on his Internet site, Mironov said geology was his passion, but demand for the profession and financing dried up in the early 1990s. He said he still likes collecting minerals and semi-precious stones.
Mironov's political career began in 1994 when he was elected to St. Petersburg's legislative assembly. In an interview given to Izvestia in 2001, shortly after he became speaker of the Federation Council, Mironov said he had met Putin before his lawmaking career started. They worked closely together when Putin was deputy mayor, from 1994 to 1996. Mironov at the time was deputy speaker and led a pro-mayoral faction in the legislative assembly.
In 1998, Mironov was re-elected with 70 percent of the vote. Two years later, he served as deputy head of Putin's election headquarters in St. Petersburg.
Mironov led the Will of St. Petersburg, a movement that later became the backbone of the party he leads now, the Party of Life. Last year, he formed a bloc with Russia's Revival, led by former State Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznyov, to run in the Duma elections. The bloc got 1.8 percent of the vote.
Mironov has a habit of making statements and later backtracking on them.
For instance, he was the first of the pro-Kremlin politicians to propose extending the presidential term to seven years. After Putin spoke against it, Mironov suggested that five years would be just fine for Russia. And finally, last week he said the "Constitution must not be changed."
In 2002, while on an official visit to Israel, Mironov canceled a meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in what was seen as a major violation of diplomatic protocol.
He declared that he could not meet with Arafat because this might be seen as support for terrorism. Foreign Ministry officials sprang into action to explain that Mironov had expressed his personal opinion not Russia's. In later interviews, Mironov's position became more and more vague.
At best, Mironov can hope for 1 percent to 1.5 percent of the vote, if he does not end up openly calling for voting for Putin, said Sergei Markov, director of the Institute of Political Studies.
"His 'last words' in the debate [last Thursday] were basically the following: 'Come to the elections' and not 'come and vote for me,'" Markov said.
When announcing his decision in January to enter the race, Mironov -- a former geologist who is speaker of the Federation Council and No. 3 in the hierarchy of power -- said he was doing so to show that Putin is not alone.
"When a leader who is trusted goes into battle, he must not be left alone. One must stand beside him," said Mironov, whose ties to Putin date back at least to when both were involved in St. Petersburg politics in the mid-1990s.
By the time he started his campaign, though, Mironov had repackaged his message. He said the campaign would give him an opportunity to convey his ideas and judge how they are received.
"If the elections were some kind of game I would not participate," he told reporters at a news conference Feb. 16 to kick off his campaign.
Even so, his main purpose in running remains to play the role of Putin's backup man, while also trying to gain some political weight, which he sorely lacks, analysts said.
"His participation guarantees that the elections will take place, even if all other candidates pull out," said Vladimir Pribylovsky of Panorama.
"His post gives him the aura of a political heavyweight while in fact he is not," said Yury Korgunyuk of the Indem think tank, adding that Mironov seems to believe that his presidential campaign will allow him to increase his political influence.
Mironov said he would use the campaign to test his ideas.
"I would like to take advantage of this highest possible tribune to promote my ideas," Mironov said at the news conference, unveiling an eight-page brochure with his presidential platform.
"I will consider the number of votes I gain as a reaction to my ideas, which some might say are debatable," he said.
Mironov's ideas represent a familiar populist mix. If he is elected president, he promises to raise salaries tenfold by raising taxes on extracting natural resources and adopting a state monopoly on alcohol. Also, he supports imposing a life sentence for drug dealing.
Economic prosperity, he says, rests on boosting the manufacturing sector. He calls for changing the current situation in which 40 percent of Russia's information technology is imported.
While demonstrating unfaltering loyalty to the president, he has not shied away from criticizing the Cabinet.
"Have you seen anyone more closed to the people and the media than the Cabinet ministers?" Mironov said, adding that the dialogue between civil society and the authorities is like "a blind man's conversation with a deaf man."
His remarks of last week acquired some extra weight after Putin fired the Cabinet on Tuesday.
Mironov proposed passing legislation under which any Cabinet would automatically be fired after two years if it failed to improve living standards and provide security. "Such legislation should boost the responsibility of the Cabinet," he said.
In television debates on Channel One last Thursday, liberal candidate Irina Khakamada asked Mironov if he would have sacked former Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov for his inability to prevent the terrorist attacks that swept the country in the past two years.
"Ask the audience," Mironov answered, waving to the studio audience, which was dominated by police officers.
Mironov was born in the town of Pushkin near St. Petersburg in 1953. In his campaign leaflet, he wrote that he takes pride in his "peasant roots" and in having served as a paratrooper.
He spent 18 years as a geologist researching uranium deposits before quitting in 1991. He later joined the construction firm Revival of St. Petersburg, which specialized in restoration of the city's historical buildings.
In interviews posted on his Internet site, Mironov said geology was his passion, but demand for the profession and financing dried up in the early 1990s. He said he still likes collecting minerals and semi-precious stones.
Mironov's political career began in 1994 when he was elected to St. Petersburg's legislative assembly. In an interview given to Izvestia in 2001, shortly after he became speaker of the Federation Council, Mironov said he had met Putin before his lawmaking career started. They worked closely together when Putin was deputy mayor, from 1994 to 1996. Mironov at the time was deputy speaker and led a pro-mayoral faction in the legislative assembly.
In 1998, Mironov was re-elected with 70 percent of the vote. Two years later, he served as deputy head of Putin's election headquarters in St. Petersburg.
Mironov led the Will of St. Petersburg, a movement that later became the backbone of the party he leads now, the Party of Life. Last year, he formed a bloc with Russia's Revival, led by former State Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznyov, to run in the Duma elections. The bloc got 1.8 percent of the vote.
Mironov has a habit of making statements and later backtracking on them.
For instance, he was the first of the pro-Kremlin politicians to propose extending the presidential term to seven years. After Putin spoke against it, Mironov suggested that five years would be just fine for Russia. And finally, last week he said the "Constitution must not be changed."
In 2002, while on an official visit to Israel, Mironov canceled a meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in what was seen as a major violation of diplomatic protocol.
He declared that he could not meet with Arafat because this might be seen as support for terrorism. Foreign Ministry officials sprang into action to explain that Mironov had expressed his personal opinion not Russia's. In later interviews, Mironov's position became more and more vague.
At best, Mironov can hope for 1 percent to 1.5 percent of the vote, if he does not end up openly calling for voting for Putin, said Sergei Markov, director of the Institute of Political Studies.
"His 'last words' in the debate [last Thursday] were basically the following: 'Come to the elections' and not 'come and vote for me,'" Markov said.