Billionaire Prokhorov’s sister takes his role as leader of pro-business party
Mikhail Prokhorov has been replaced at the helm of the rightist pro-business Civil Platform party by his sister, Irina Prokhorova. The decision, at a closed-door meeting, scotches speculation that freed ex-tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky could get the job.
Irina Prokhorova, appointed under the party’s leadership rotation
program, announced that first on the Civil Platform’s agenda
under her leadership would be providing a list of candidates for
the Moscow City Council election, scheduled for September 2014.
Mikhail Prokhorov has characterized his sister as “an
outstanding leader, who has credibility among different segments
of Russian society.”
“Irina is one of the cultural leaders of the Russian capital,
an independent politician with a clear vision of ways to develop
social and human capital,” the businessman wrote on his
LiveJournal page.
According to Prokhorov, Russia is facing rapid radicalization as
the government and opposition are fighting each other with same
outdated, Soviet-era means.
In those conditions, the businessman views his sister as “an
ideal candidate for the challenging and responsible role” of
heading the Civil Platform, which he sees as a “third
force,” consolidating reasonable and creative people within
the country and preventing further division in the society.
Irina Prokhorova is well known for her cultural and charity
activities. She is the editor-in-chief of the Novoye
Literaturnoye Obozrenie literature magazine and the head of the
Mikhail Prokhorov charity foundation.
The 57-year-old hit the spotlight during the 2012 presidential
race when she was her brother’s authorized representative,
helping him finish third with 7.98 per cent of the vote.
Mikhail Prokhorov stressed that the change at the top doesn’t
mean that he’ll be quitting the party, which he co-founded in
June 2012.
It was announced that the billionaire will from now on be in
charge of the Civil Platform’s Federal Political Committee.
The leadership rotation program was launched as the party is
seeks the most effective management model, he said. The
businessman has said Civil Platform wants to avoid an autocratic
leadership structure.
The party stands for the reduction of presidential terms to four
years, direct election of governors, and lowering the parliament
electoral threshold to 3 percent.
Among its political demands are an independent judicial system,
abandonment of arrest as a preventive measure against those who
committed economic crimes, as well as signing an integration
agreement with the European Union.
The ruling United Russia party has commented on the reshuffle in
the Civil Platform, saying that “the change of leadership
went on quietly, in the family circle.”
“Perhaps, that’s what democracy looks like from Mikhail
Prokhorov’s perspective,” Sergey Neverov, one of the party’s
leaders, told the Itar-Tass news agency.
Political analyst Mikhail Kalachev believes that Prokhorov was
forced to step down as party leader because his career hasn’t
fulfilled his and his followers’ expectations.
“He’s a complete failure as a system politician,” he
told Izvestia newspaper, adding that the Civil Platform party
“doesn’t channel protest voices anymore.”
Mikhail Prokhorov holds an estimated fortune of around $13
billion, making him the seventh-richest person in Russia and 58th
richest in the world, according to Forbes.
Before turning to politics in 2011, Prokhorov headed Norilsk
Nickel, the palladium and nickel mining and smelting company;
Russia's largest gold producer, Polyus Gold; and private
investment fund Onexim Group.
He’s mainly famous in the West for being the owner of the NBA’s
Brooklyn Nets and his involvement in the 2007 Courchevel
Christmas party scandal – when he was briefly arrested by French
police on suspicion of arranging prostitutes for his guests. He
was later cleared of all charges.
