Sverdlovsk regional forum of election observers, March 2018. Source: For Fair Elections.I stand here like a model civic activist, a rights defender in my white coat, while the presidential elections are taking place around me. Colleagues standing nearby are proudly declaring that human rights and politics are far removed from one another, and never cross paths. After all, NGOs try to help people whatever the political priority of the the day is. Our business is policy (defending the public’s interests) not politics, which is a power struggle. And all of us, including the most loyal NGO, are united: there’s no intrigue, the election result is known in advance, but still they flap and bustle around, drumming up volunteers out of nowhere, signing agreements with Public Chambers to send observers to polling stations on election day.
There’s an incredible fuss in Russian civil society about what the right stance is to take on the elections – no one has seen this kind of fuss in 15 years, and there was no sign of it just a year ago. And only a handful of stressed out (but proud!) rights activists are watching this celebration of civic and political life from afar, getting on quietly with their everyday tasks. No one even turns their head towards the noise of the election: elections are a momentary commotion, but we want to talk about timeless things... And this gives us double protection from the “foreign agent” register.
For the last ten years, the trend has been clear: politics and elections are one thing, NGOs quite another
