Political analyst Gleb Pavlovsky disputes Sobchak is a spoiler “in the regular sense.”
“She has come forward like an information spoiler,” he says. “She is distracting from the seriousness of the elections, creating a carnival-like atmosphere.”
He cites Sobchak’s election platform — or rather, the lack thereof.
In a letter published by Vedomosti, Sobchak presented herself as a pro-business, pro-rights candidate, proposing to reform courts and education; develop private business; and privatize large state corporations.
She also criticized gender and sexual discrimination.
But above all, she cast herself as the ‘Against all’ candidate — a personified stand-in for the against all option on ballots, which no longer exists.
“You don’t have your own candidate?” she wrote. “Check Sobchak. You’re not electing her to be president. You’re simply getting a legal and peaceful opportunity to say ‘That’s enough! We’re sick of it!’”
“If Sobchak has any political motivations, we can’t see them,” says Pavlovsky. “In her manifesto, she talks as if there are no elections, but only political movements and groups, and that’s it.”
Instead, many suspect Sobchak of looking to further her career in show business or mass media. According to the New Times magazine, Sobchak is hoping to return to state television after quitting the NTV television channel in 2011.
“It’s a personal ambition — to gain fame,” says Andrei Kolesnikov, of the Carnegie Moscow Center. “She can’t spoil Navalny or other candidates because she can’t get the votes.”