02:08Russia: Pawsitively purrrlitical! Meet Begemot, the Russian CAT running for office
Purrrhaps a push towards a new kind of all-inclusive politics, a cat named Begemot, or 'Behemoth' in English, is attempting to represent of Kostroma in the Russian parliament, with the topically-aware tabby 'presenting' his manifesto from the Volga River city, Wednesday.
Begemot, named after the fictional cat from Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov's Master and Margarita, is an independent candidate in support of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
However Begemot's attempt could be scuppered due to bureaucracy as, having completed all the necessary paperwork, his application was declined. Assistant Election Commissioner of the Kostroma Region, Olga Vladimirovna, explained "the cat doesn't have a Russian Federation citizen passport; any election committee would decline an application".
Begemot's representative and owner, Vitaliy, has already appealed and now is waiting for a final decision from the Kostroma Election Committee. According to him, "the cat considers that he himself could be a better Duma member than many of the current lawmakers."
He also spoke about why Begemot decided to run for a seat: "we have democracy in Russia. As you know, an American cat Hank was a candidate twice. So why should our cat not try to be a delegate of the State Duma". Hank the Cat attempted to stand for a seat in the US Senate during the 2012 elections to represent Virginia, coming third behind two other (human) candidates.
02:08Purrrhaps a push towards a new kind of all-inclusive politics, a cat named Begemot, or 'Behemoth' in English, is attempting to represent of Kostroma in the Russian parliament, with the topically-aware tabby 'presenting' his manifesto from the Volga River city, Wednesday.
Begemot, named after the fictional cat from Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov's Master and Margarita, is an independent candidate in support of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
However Begemot's attempt could be scuppered due to bureaucracy as, having completed all the necessary paperwork, his application was declined. Assistant Election Commissioner of the Kostroma Region, Olga Vladimirovna, explained "the cat doesn't have a Russian Federation citizen passport; any election committee would decline an application".
Begemot's representative and owner, Vitaliy, has already appealed and now is waiting for a final decision from the Kostroma Election Committee. According to him, "the cat considers that he himself could be a better Duma member than many of the current lawmakers."
He also spoke about why Begemot decided to run for a seat: "we have democracy in Russia. As you know, an American cat Hank was a candidate twice. So why should our cat not try to be a delegate of the State Duma". Hank the Cat attempted to stand for a seat in the US Senate during the 2012 elections to represent Virginia, coming third behind two other (human) candidates.