A Russian presidential candidate and leader of the nationalist LDPR party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, has vowed to create secret police to fight Russia’s “external enemies” if elected president in March.
“The first thing I’d do [as president] is invest money in creating a new secret political police to clear the country of a ‘fifth column,’ of those who are funded by the Americans, the European Union, NATO and Islamic states,” Zhirinovsky, who is known for his flamboyant behavior and controversial statements, said on Tuesday during TV debates with another presidential candidate, Mikhail Prokhorov.
Both Zhirinovsky and Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is also running for the presidency, have accused foreign powers, particularly the United States, of sponsoring Russia’s opposition.
During Tuesday’s TV debates, Zhirinovsky welcomed a presidential bill easing the rules for registering political parties, which the Russian parliament’s lower house approved in the first reading earlier in the day. He warned, however, that the reform could allow those whom he dubbed a “fifth column” to make it into parliament and change the constitution, which he said would result in Russia being split into “dozens of states.”
Presidential elections in Russia will take place on March 4. Besides Zhirinovsky, Putin and Prokhorov, two other candidates – Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov and A Just Russia party leader Sergei Mironov – will compete for the presidential post.
