Sole Dissenter in Duma's Crimea Vote Getting Grief
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/29/world/europe/Russia-Duma-Crimea.html?_r=0
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR | MARCH 28, 2014
MOSCOW -- Russia's parliament, the State Duma, is not exactly known as a bastion of independent thinking, so when the final vote approving the annexation of Crimea appeared on two large overhead screens last week at 445 to 1, it caused a stir.
Who was the 1?
It turned out to be Ilya V. Ponomarev, 38, an independent, left-of-center, two-term deputy from Novosibirsk, Siberia's largest city.
Mr. Ponomarev said he had first contemplated voting against annexation on March 1, when the Federation Council, parliament's upper house, endorsed the use of military force in Ukraine if deemed necessary by the Kremlin. But Mr. Ponomarev only made up his mind after President Vladimir V. Putin's March 18 speech announcing that Russia would annex Crimea, the deputy said, describing it as "so confrontational."
The lone "no" vote was meant to send a message to the governments of Russia and Ukraine, and especially to the people of Ukraine, "that it is not unanimous, that there are people in Russia who think differently," Mr. Ponomarev, with clear blue eyes and a brown beard, said in an interview. "It is a minority, but these people exist and I think it was important to express that opinion as well."
The deputy already had attracted the ire of social media two days earlier, after a photograph circulated of him sitting while Russia's entire political elite listening to Mr. Putin's speech was on their feet.
He was accused of sitting through the national anthem, which he denied.
Anticipating his vote in the Duma, colleagues seated near him offered what he called friendly advice not to do it, he said, warning him "Don't ruin your career," or "Putin will crush you."
After the Duma vote, there was an immediate barrage of attacks on Twitter and elsewhere condemning him as a "national traitor" and a "5th columnist." It was suggested that he emigrate, that he be crucified.
Mr. Ponomarev anticipated immediate censure, but the only official reaction in the Duma so far has been an indirect reference by Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a nationalist party leader, who warned darkly that Russia needed to be vigilant against 5th columnists everywhere, even in the Duma. There have been vague threats of expulsion, as well.
Mr. Ponomarev, who holds degrees in science and management, has fallen afoul of fellow deputies before on other issues, including speaking out against the government at street protests in 2012 and not wearing a tie.
When the parliament took another symbolic vote, demanding that Western nations imposing sanctions on Russia include all Duma members, the deputies around him also carped about his choice, he said.
"They were whining, saying 'We cannot visit our houses in Italy; Where we will spend our vacations?; You bastard, you didn't vote, you will be allowed into Europe, we will not -- stuff like that," he said.
Mr. Ponomarev, running for mayor of Novosibirsk, braced for worse from his constituents when he went home this week to campaign. "The overwhelming majority of people say that Crimea is Russia, there is no doubt," he said. "It is a virtually unanimous opinion."
But when he explained that he voted because he wanted to avoid war, that the annexation should have been negotiated, about half the small knots of 15-20 voters he addressed on the streets usually came around, he said. Women in particular accepted the antiwar message, while men, even if they disagreed with the vote, warmed to the idea that he had defied the government line, Mr. Ponomarev said.
"Siberia is a place like the Wild West in the U.S., where people like to challenge the government, so they called me brave," he said, laughing.
But on Friday his mayoral campaign became a victim of his vote. The five opposition candidates for mayor decided to pick just one in order to consolidate their forces. He decided to withdraw, he said, partly because his lone "no" vote might have been used effectively by the ruling party to keep the mayor's office.
There is one small comfort, he said: Duma members are immune from prosecution.
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