Party of crooks and thieves
{{Short description|Popular expression used to refer to the ruling United Russia party}}
File:Edinaya Rossiya poster v2.svg contest "Against the party of crooks and thieves"]]{{multiple image
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| footer = A sticker in Moscow prior to the December 5, 2011 protests reads "Against the party of crooks and thieves"
Anti-government protests in Moscow, December 10, 2011. The poster in the foreground reads "Party of crooks and thieves go away!"
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File:Moscow rally 24 December 2011 Sakharov Avenue 13 41 13.jpg
"Party of crooks and thieves" ({{langx|ru|Партия жуликов и воров|translit=Partiya zhulikov i vorov}}, abbr. {{langx|ru|ПЖиВ|translit=PZhiV|label=none}}{{cite news|title=Большинство тех, кто голосовал против ПЖиВ, не читали Навального, не ужасались происшествию на Ленинском проспекте. У каждого из них случился какой-то свой персональный Ленинский проспект|url=http://www.novayagazeta.ru/columns/49903.html|access-date=19 July 2013|newspaper=Novaya Gazeta|date=6 December 2011}}) is an expression widely circulating among opposition in Russia which is used to refer to the ruling United Russia party, led by Vladimir Putin. It was coined and popularised by blogger and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny in February 2011.
- {{cite book|title=Russia after 2012: From Putin to Medvedev to Putin – Continuity, Change, or Revolution?|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134072590|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jbUEfD62hFcC|author=J.L. Black, Michael Johns}}
- {{cite news|title=Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny fined for suggesting United Russia member was thief|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/9312508/Russian-opposition-activist-Alexei-Navalny-fined-for-suggesting-United-Russia-member-was-thief.html|access-date=19 July 2013|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=5 June 2012|quote=The term "party of crooks and thieves" became a meme after Mr Navalny, an anti-corruption campaigner, first used it in February last year as an off the cuff remark about United Russia during a radio debate.}}* {{cite news|date=5 December 2011|title=Russia election: Hundreds rally against Putin in Moscow|agency=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16042797|access-date=19 July 2013|quote="They are a party of crooks and thieves," said popular anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny, who was one of those arrested in Moscow.}}
- {{cite book|last=Norris|first=Stephen M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6_gcmpaX7fcC&q=united+russia+%22party+of+crooks+and+thieves%22&pg=PR11|title=Blockbuster History in the New Russia: Movies, Memory, and Patriotism|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=2012|isbn=9780253007087|location=Bloomington|page=xi}}
- {{cite news|last=Goncharenko|first=Roman|date=23 April 2013|title=Alexei Navalny – the man caught in the Kremlin's crosshairs|agency=Deutsche Welle|url=http://www.dw.de/alexei-navalny-the-man-caught-in-the-kremlins-crosshairs/a-16765165|access-date=19 July 2013|quote=As both a lawyer and blogger, Navalny is considered a leading critic of the Kremlin. He was the first to call United Russia – the ruling centrist party of Russian President Vladmir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev – the "party of crooks and thieves."}}
Origin
In 2013, far-right politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky, speaking to Echo of Moscow, claimed to have used this expression in 2009.{{Cite news |date=27 October 2013 |title=В круге света: Миграция |work=Echo of Moscow |url=https://echo.msk.ru/programs/sorokina/1143798-echo/}} In 2010, liberal politician Boris Nemtsov, speaking to Radio Liberty, described United Russia as "a party of thieves and corrupt officials".{{Cite news |date=28 September 2010 |title=Политик Борис Немцов - об отставке мэра Москвы |url=https://www.svoboda.org/a/2170127.html |access-date= |newspaper=Радио Свобода |language=ru |last1=Назарец |first1=Евгения |last2=Соколов |first2=Михаил }}
On February 2, 2011, in an interview with Finam FM radio station, blogger and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny responded to the question about United Russia:*[http://finam.fm/archive-view/3626/print/ Финам. FM, Архив программы «Сухой остаток» от 02/02/2011]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leHWbcmd74E Видеозапись интервью с Навальным]
{{cquote|I think very poorly of United Russia. United Russia is the party of corruption, the party of crooks and thieves.}}
The English translation "party of crooks and thieves" first appeared in an article of The New Yorker on April 4, 2011, by Russian-born American journalist Julia Ioffe.{{cite news|last=Ioffe|first=Julia|title=Net Impact: One man's cyber-crusade against Russian corruption.|url=http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/04/04/110404fa_fact_ioffe|access-date=19 July 2013|newspaper=The New Yorker|date=4 April 2011}} The expression was also used by The Economist in October and December 2011.{{Cite news |date=1 October 2011 |title=Guess who! |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/europe/2011/10/01/guess-who |access-date= |issn=0013-0613}}{{Cite news |date=11 December 2011 |title=A Russian awakening |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/eastern-approaches/2011/12/11/a-russian-awakening |access-date= |issn=0013-0613}}
Usage
The slogan was widely used during the 2011 Russian legislative election campaign{{cite book|last=Judah|first=Ben|title=Fragile Empire: How Russia Fell In and Out of Love with Vladimir Putin|year=2013|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=9780300181210|page=222|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4mSnz8X5DSwC}} by parties and individuals.
- [http://kprf.ru/crisis/agitator/99178.html Москвичи используют оригинальную форму агитации против «Единой России» // KPRF.RU 20 ноября 2011]
- [http://kprf.ru/crisis/agitator/88691.html Лучшие 80 плакатов конкурса «Единая Россия» — партия жуликов и воров" | KPRF.RU]
- [http://www.spravedlivo.ru/news/anews/16703.php?highlight=%CF%E0%F0%F2%E8%FF%20%E6%F3%EB%E8%EA%EE%E2%20%E2%EE%F0%EE%E2 Предвыборные дебаты. Сергей Миронов в эфире канала «Россия 1» // 16 ноября 2011] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120911163057/http://www.spravedlivo.ru/news/anews/16703.php?highlight=%CF%E0%F0%F2%E8%FF%20%E6%F3%EB%E8%EA%EE%E2%20%E2%EE%F0%EE%E2 |date=2012-09-11 }} («За родину, без жуликов и воров!»)
Posters, banners, stickers were common during the protests in 2011 and 2012.
The Russian-language division of CGTN, a Chinese state-run media, made a reference to "crooks and thieves" to promote China's efforts to contain corruption in a rap song about the Two Sessions.{{cite news |last1=Kovalev |first1=Alexey |author-link=Alexey Kovalev (journalist) |last2=Vladislav |first2=Gorin |date=27 July 2020 |title=Это полный фейспалм Китай начал агрессивно продвигать себя через российские СМИ, но результат получается комичный. Оказалось, что КНР не хватает умелых пропагандистов |agency=Meduza |url=https://meduza.io/feature/2020/07/27/eto-polnyy-feyspalm |access-date=20 April 2021}}
Public opinion
A Levada Center survey on July 19, 2011, revealed that 33% of Russians agree that United Russia is a "party of crooks and thieves", while 47% disagreed.[http://old.levada.ru/press/2011071902.html 19.07.2011. Левада-центр. О партии «Единая Россия»]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Another survey by the same center in June 2012 showed an increase in respondents agreeing with the characterization. Of the total, 47% agreed and 40% disagreed.Левада Центр [http://www.levada.ru/04-07-2012/edinaya-rossiya-ne-mozhet-izbavitsya-ot-yarlyka-partiei-zhulikov-i-vorov-ee-schitayut-vse «Единая Россия» не может избавиться от ярлыка «Партией жуликов и воров» её считают все больше россиян] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108205715/http://www.levada.ru/04-07-2012/edinaya-rossiya-ne-mozhet-izbavitsya-ot-yarlyka-partiei-zhulikov-i-vorov-ee-schitayut-vse |date=2014-11-08 }}, [Левада-Центр], 04.07.2012 The latest survey was conducted in April 2013 by Levada Center. For the first time since 2011, it showed the majority of Russians (51%) agreeing with the phrase.
- [http://www.mk.ru/politics/russia/article/2013/04/29/848604-rossiyane-priznali-quoterquot-partiey-quotzhulikov-i-vorovquot.html Россияне признали «ЕР» партией «жуликов и воров»] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730055521/http://www.mk.ru/politics/russia/article/2013/04/29/848604-rossiyane-priznali-quoterquot-partiey-quotzhulikov-i-vorovquot.html |date=2013-07-30 }} Moskovskij Komsomolets, 29 April 2013
- Левада Центр [http://www.levada.ru/29-04-2013/svyshe-poloviny-strany-schitaet-er-partiei-zhulikov-i-vorov Свыше половины страны считает ЕР «партией жуликов и воров»] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601164047/http://www.levada.ru/29-04-2013/svyshe-poloviny-strany-schitaet-er-partiei-zhulikov-i-vorov |date=2013-06-01 }}, [Левада-Центр], 29.04.2013
- {{cite news|title=Большинство россиян считает, что "Единая Россия" — партия жуликов и воров|url=http://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/news/11652321/partiya_dlya_bogatyh|access-date=20 July 2013|newspaper=Vedomosti|date=29 April 2013}} At the same poll, 62% of Russians said United Russia members are about "maintaining and strengthening their own power."{{cite news|last=Khazan|first=Olga|title=More Than Half of Russians Say Putin's Party Are 'Crooks and Thieves'|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/04/more-than-half-of-russians-say-putins-party-are-crooks-and-thieves/275398/|access-date=20 July 2013|newspaper=The Atlantic|date=29 April 2013}}
In February 2011, Navalny created a [http://navalny.livejournal.com/553708.html poll] in his LiveJournal blog in which around 38,000 people participated with over 96% agreeing with the characterization of United Russia as "party of crooks and thieves".{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}
Reaction from United Russia
On October 11, 2011, the Lyublinsky District Court rejected the lawsuit of United Russia member Vladimir Svirid against Navalny.{{cite news|url=http://www.gazeta.ru/politics/2011/10/11_kz_3797870.shtml|script-title=ru:«Партия жуликов и воров» легализована|date=11 October 2011|agency=Gazeta.ru|access-date=13 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103002254/http://www.gazeta.ru/politics/2011/10/11_kz_3797870.shtml|archive-date=3 January 2012|language=ru|url-status=dead}}
On November 24, 2011, during a debate on Russia-1 between United Russia and the Liberal Democratic Party, State Duma Member Alexander Khinshtein (a member of United Russia) stated:
{{cquote|United Russia works. It does everything to change the life [standards] in our country. They tell us about a "party of crooks and thieves." I will respond them. It is better to be in a "party of crooks and thieves" than in a "party of murderers, rapists and robbers."[http://www.ura.ru/content/svrd/25-11-2011/news/1052137155.html «Партия жуликов и воров» схлестнулась в прямом эфире с «Партией убийц и насильников». Жириновский двум уральским единороссам из ФСБ: «Нам с вами срать на одном поле противно» // УРА.ru: 25.11.2011] }}
See also
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
{{commonscatinline}}
- [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/04/04/110404fa_fact_ioffe Net Impact. One man’s cyber-crusade against Russian corruption. – The New Yorker], the first article about the popular expression in Western media
{{Alexei Navalny}}
Category:Russian political phrases