A sticker in Moscow prior to the December 5, 2011 protests reads "Against the party of crooks and thieves"
Anti-government protests in Moscow, December 10, 2011. The poster in the foreground reads "Party of crooks and thieves go away!"
"Party of crooks and thieves" (Russian: Партия жуликов и воров – Partiya zhulikov i vorov, abbr. Russian: ПЖиВ – PZhiV[1]) is an expression widely circulating among opposition in Russia which is used to refer to the ruling United Russia party, led by Dmitry Medvedev. It was coined by blogger and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny in February 2011.[2][3]
- ^ "Большинство тех, кто голосовал против ПЖиВ, не читали Навального, не ужасались происшествию на Ленинском проспекте. У каждого из них случился какой-то свой персональный Ленинский проспект". Novaya Gazeta. 6 December 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
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- J.L. Black, Michael Johns (2013). Russia after 2012: From Putin to Medvedev to Putin – Continuity, Change, or Revolution?. Routledge. ISBN 9781134072590.
- "Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny fined for suggesting United Russia member was thief". The Telegraph. 5 June 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
The term "party of crooks and thieves" became a meme after Mr Navalny, an anti-corruption campaigner, first used it in February last year as an off the cuff remark about United Russia during a radio debate.
- ^ * "Russia election: Hundreds rally against Putin in Moscow". BBC News. 5 December 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
"They are a party of crooks and thieves," said popular anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny, who was one of those arrested in Moscow.
- Norris, Stephen M. (2012). Blockbuster History in the New Russia: Movies, Memory, and Patriotism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. xi. ISBN 9780253007087.
- Goncharenko, Roman (23 April 2013). "Alexei Navalny – the man caught in the Kremlin's crosshairs". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
As both a lawyer and blogger, Navalny is considered a leading critic of the Kremlin. He was the first to call United Russia – the ruling centrist party of Russian President Vladmir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev – the "party of crooks and thieves."