Russia:With the goal of injecting youth into politics, 60 candidates must jump through hoops to make the final list of five, writes Peter Finn in Lipetsk
To the list of contest prizes that stoke fantasies worldwide - riches, fame, a dream date, a new washer-dryer - add another: a seat in parliament. Shunning pinstripes for shorts and bathing suits, a group of potential legislators was unveiled at a beach party here last weekend: the first-round winners in a competition called Political Factory, modelled on the Russian television show Star Factory.
Plucked from obscurity, a few of these aspiring law-makers, or deputies, are due to join the Russian ruling class by October.
"I'm ready to fight and to solve the problems of young people!" proclaimed a beaming Svetlana Kondakova (21), on hearing she'd made the cut. When a DJ in wraparound shades remarked that what her bikini top concealed would help her advance in politics, the crowd roared its approval.
In April, the Supreme Council of United Russia, the political party that supports president Vladimir Putin and controls legislatures at both the federal and regional levels, decided that 20 per cent of all candidates on party lists in future elections must be between 21 and 28 years of age.
The move is intended to broaden the party's membership beyond the stolid bureaucrats and businessmen who stuff its ranks - many inspired not by ideological fervour but by the party's almost complete electoral dominance.
Lipetsk's regional governor, Oleg Korolyov, joined United Russia last October, part of a wave of political grandees switching sides. But how to recruit at the entry level?
Young Guard, the party's youth wing, hatched the idea of a reality contest. The competition was launched in May in nine regions, including Lipetsk, that are scheduled to hold local parliamentary elections in the autumn.
"It's the first time in Russian history that a party has made a decision to share real power . . . on every level from local to federal," said Ivan Demidov, a Young Guard leader and well-known television personality. "It's the first actual step towards renewing the elite."
According to surveys, young people in Russia are largely indifferent to politics, whatever about Kremlin fears they could become the vanguard of the kind of popular revolt that toppled governments in neighbouring Ukraine and Georgia. Although a host of youth organisations were formed in the last two years to tame or channel youth activism, most of them quickly faded.
Then Young Guard used modern marketing to try to attract recruits. "You are young. You are active. You are moving forward. And Political Factory will open the doors for you! Political Factory gives you a chance to get to power!" So promised a jingle aired over the last two months on local radio stations in Lipetsk, about 360km (225 miles) south of Moscow.
Critics call this approach a desperate gimmick. "Demidov is a showman," said Vladimir Pribylovsky, head of the Panorama research institute in Moscow. "The president asked him to propagandise among young people and he had to come up with something new to generate some interest.
"But I don't believe they'll give away parliamentary seats. There are too many of the party's adults who want them."
One young person who embraced the idea was Kondakova.
"You look at politicians, and all you see are middle-aged men - and how are they going to solve the questions of young people?" she asked, speaking on the beach of an artificial lake outside Lipetsk. "This competition is a real surprise and a chance for young people to actually do things."
Contestants were invited to come to a Young Guard office in the city. There they had to fill out a long questionnaire on their personal backgrounds and political views.
"The USA is our friend, enemy or economic partner?" one question asked. Respondents were instructed to elaborate on their answers. There are no set correct answers, they were told.
"The US is our strong competitor," wrote Andrei Trofimenkov (26) who works for a local private group which promotes co-operation between government and business, in a fairly typical response.
"It is not our friend because it is not interested in restoring Russia's greatness," he continued. "Neither is it our enemy because it's not interested in Russia's total elimination."
"It's too tough to say enemy," wrote Dmitry Zakhvatayev (24), a manager at a small company. "But they don't wish us any good, that's for sure."
One question asked why Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the Russian oil tycoon who clashed with the Kremlin, was in prison. Almost everyone wrote that he was guilty of financial crimes.
But others showed independence from the government's line.
Pavel Lysenko (21) who works for the local interior ministry, said Khodorkovsky was in jail only because "he was able to earn money and the Russian mentality can't tolerate that."
Yevgeny Zenkov, a 23-year-old chemistry teacher and boy scout leader, said Khodorkovsky was "in jail for his political views".
Both Lysenko and Zenkov are still in the contest.
On June 4th, the original field of 60 was cut to 20, half of whom had no previous affiliation with United Russia or Young Guard.
Contestants heard the news on the beach, where United Russia had set up a stage and DJs from a local radio station played Russian hip-hop. Young activists grilled hot dogs and helped themselves to the mineral water for which Lipetsk has been famous since the days of Czar Peter the Great.
The winners were called up to the stage in groups of four. In responses to a DJ, the fledgling politicians proclaimed their devotion to the party, democracy and the Russian way of life.
"It's not important which party you belong to," said Sergei Pozdnyakov (26), a former Communist party loyalist among the 20 preliminary winners. "The main thing is to be with people who have some sincere beliefs."
Over the next month, the winners have to gather the signatures of 500 people who pledge to support them in the autumn elections. They also have to organise some local events to show their political 'smarts'. The contest will end with a debate among the 20 aspirants.
On June 27th, five final winners will be chosen in Lipetsk and added to the party list. Three of those will almost certainly end up in parliament. - (LA Times- Washington Post service)