THE DAUGHTERS of two of the most prominent critics of Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, are to enter politics with the aim of challenging the Kremlin’s “mounting cynicism and authoritarianism”.

Zhanna Nemtsova, whose father Boris is a charismatic member of the opposition, is to run for a seat in Moscow’s city parliament in December. Barely 21, she would be Russia’s youngest parliamentarian if elected.

Her political ambitions are shared by Maria Gaidar, the daughter of Yegor Gaidar, first post-Soviet prime minister, who is praised in the West but vilified at home as the architect of Russia’s market reforms of the 1990s.

Gaidar, 24, has been asked to join the Union of Rights Forces (SPS), an alliance of liberal opposition parties.

“Russian politics has always been a cynical business, but under Putin it’s got much worse,” said Nemtsova. “The Kremlin has no respect for the opinions of ordinary people and it clearly feels it can get away with manipulating them.

“It’s high time that young people became more active in politics. We are the future of this country and our voices should be heard.”

A fluent English and Portuguese speaker with an economics degree, Nemtsova wanted to be a seamstress until she became interested in politics. Supported by her parents, she is collecting the mandatory 5,000 signatures needed to register as a candidate for the parliamentary elections.

Her long-term ambition is to run for mayor of Sochi, her father’s home town on the Black Sea, where Putin spends his summer holidays.

Her father, who was once tipped as a future president, used to be close to Boris Yeltsin, Putin’s predecessor. He rose to deputy prime minister but failed to win a seat in parliament last year and is one of Putin’s most outspoken critics.

Nemtsova and Gaidar are the first children of Kremlin opponents to follow in their fathers’ footsteps. Their move, which they hope will bring new blood to the country’s beleaguered opposition, comes at a time when anxiety over the Orange revolution in neighbouring Ukraine has prompted Putin to seek the support of Russia’s young.

The president recently backed the creation of Nashi, (“Ours”) a Soviet-style pro-Kremlin youth movement that critics have dubbed the “Putin Jugend”. The opposition has founded youth groups such as Da (“Yes”) to counter Nashi’s nationalistic message.

Gaidar, a bright student of macro-economics, is an active member. She also recently helped stage a demonstration in support of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia’s richest man, who was imprisoned on fraud and tax evasion charges after falling out with Putin.

“I am against the corruption and the media censorship of the current regime,” said Gaidar. “There are many Russians who are unhappy with the state of things but feel there is nothing they can do to turn the tide because the Kremlin is too powerful. People like me want to change that.”

In a country where liberal-minded reformers are blamed by most voters for the economic hardships they have endured since the collapse of communism, the young women’s privileged upbringing and political pedigree are a considerable handicap. “It will be an uphill battle but the only alternative would be to leave Russia,” said Gaidar.

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