The liberal intelligentsia and the opposition in Russia tend to overestimate the leader of the protest movement, Aleksei Navalny, but the fact is that this politician is extremely ambitious and "imprisoned for power," which means that at the head of the country he can become a new Yeltsin or a new Putin.

This opinion was expressed to the "Observer" by the Russian political scientist Dmitry Oreshkin.

"In this anti-Putin euphoria, people tend to overestimate Navalny. "He's honest, he's strong, he's brave, he's telling the truth ..." Just like Yeltsin in the 1990s. Whatever Soviet power did to him, his popularity only grew, "- said the political scientist.

At the same time, Oreshkin is convinced: "He is dangerous. Navalny - a man imprisoned in power, extremely ambitious, extremely goal-oriented, very talented, yet absolutely authoritarian. Already in it it is felt ". "And we now have oppositionists in raptures from Navalny. If you say something bad about it, then, "you're a traitor, you're fed by Putin's regime ..." People idealize him, "said Oreshkin.

"If, God forbid, power comes to him, then in order to achieve something, he will have to take on more and more powers, and thus repeat the Yeltsin scenario, only, perhaps, in the worst form," - A political scientist.

He stressed that today for Russia it is important not so much to change the "bad king to a good one" as to change the system. Proceeding from this, Oreshkin concluded that there is a difference between Navalny, who can come to power in the presence of deterrent institutions, and Navalny, who can become the head of state "in a situation where these institutions are successfully exterminated by Vladimir Putin".

The political scientist recalled that at the beginning of his presidency, Putin received the country "with almost normal institutions, with political competition, with equal television channels, with an ever-increasing independent court," and he himself gave the impression of an amazingly nice man. "He knew how to like, he smiled, he has a wonderful sense of humor, he knows foreign languages, he is educated, he is smart, he does not drink. The whole country wrote with delight. Many still do this, "- said Oreshkin.

Nevertheless, during the years of the presidency, "all this was destroyed". "There is only Putin left, who can only be replaced by one Navalny. And this system is simply catastrophic. It destroys the future of Russia, "said the political scientist..

Answering the question of the "Observer", whether Navalny sets the goal of regime change, the political scientist said: "He sets a goal to become president. In order to become president, he needs to talk about changing the regime. It is not a fact that if and when he gets power, he will change this regime ".

Full text of the interview with Dmitry Oreshkin read here.

As the "Observer" wrote, Dmitry Oreshkin earlier said that Vladimir Putin has a real competitor.

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