Irina Hakamada
Encyclopedia
Irina Mutsuovna Khakamada is a Russia
n politician who ran in the Russian presidential election, 2004
. She is a member of The Other Russia
coalition.
in 1939, and Nina Sinelnikova, who is of Russian and Armenian roots, schoolteacher who lost her father to the Stalinist purges and her mother to suicide following the family's forced relocation to Khabarovsk. Her paternal uncle is Satomi Hakamada, a longtime member of the Japanese Communist Party
leadership. The Russia expert and Aoyama Gakuin University
political science professor Shigeki Hakamada is her half-brother. In Kanji
, her family name is ; in katakana
, her name is イリーナ・ハカマダ.
She graduated from the Department of Economy of the Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University in Moscow in 1978. She later obtained her PhD degree from the Faculty of Economics of Lomonosov Moscow State University
.
Irina Khakamada was an elected Duma
representative from 1993 to 2003. She is commonly regarded as a democratic politician who is in a moderate opposition to the Russian government. She is known for criticizing the governmental actions during Moscow theater hostage crisis
where she was involved as one of the negotiators. Khakamada stated that the hostage takers were not going to use their bombs to kill the people and destroy the building http://2004.novayagazeta.ru/nomer/2004/02n/n02n-s13.shtml. This opinion was supported by other negotiators including Anna Politkovskaya
and by the subsequent events when the Chechens did not use their bombs.
Khakamada was one of the leaders of the Union of Right Forces
, when she decided to run in the Russian presidential election, 2004
. She was not supported by her own party, because they regarded her as the only opponent of president Putin (all other candidates were not opposed to the President's policies). She received 3.9% of votes http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3511164.stm. Publicist Yulia Latynina
in her article in Novaya Gazeta
http://2004.novayagazeta.ru/nomer/2004/03n/n03n-s03.shtml claimed that she only staged a role of a democratic opponent to provide more legitimacy to the election of Vladimir Putin
, a role that Grigory Alexeyevich Yavlinsky
refused to play. However, Khakamada denied such allegations.
After the election, Khakamada founded a political party, Our Choice, which eventually merged with the People's Democratic Union
led by Mikhail Kasyanov
and her. She published book "Gender in big-time politics" describing her personal experience of work in Kremlin.
received a word from Khakamada that Putin threatened her and like-minded colleagues in person. According to Berezovsky, a fugitive from Russian justice, and one of the individuals most compromised in the massive asset stripping of the later Yeltsin years, Putin had issued threats that Khakamada and her colleagues "totake in the head immediately, literally, not figuratively" if they "open the mouth" about the Russian apartment bombings
.. Why Putin would have chosen to convey this message via Berezovsky, we are left to guess.
On October 19, 2006 at the Frontline Club
former FSB
officer Alexander Litvinenko
said he had learned from Anna Politkovskaya
that Putin asked Khakamada to pass a threat to Politkovskaya. Khakamada denied her involvement in passing any specific threats, and said that she warned Politkovskaya only in general terms more than a year ago, and that Politkovskaya blamed her and Mikhail Kasyanov
for becoming Kremlin's puppets. Politkovskaya and Litvinenko died in October and November 2006, Politkovskaya almost certainly as revenge for her writings on Chechen warlords, LItvinienko of radiation poisoning, possibly intentional, possibly accidental while smuggling polonium, an element in nuclear triggers.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n politician who ran in the Russian presidential election, 2004
Russian presidential election, 2004
Presidential elections were held in Russia on 14 March 2004. Incumbent Vladimir Putin was seeking a second full four-year term. He was re-elected with 71.31% of the vote.-Sergey Glazyev:...
. She is a member of The Other Russia
The Other Russia
The Other Russia , sometimes cited as Another Russia, is an umbrella coalition that gathered opponents of former President of Russia Vladimir Putin...
coalition.
Biography
Khakamada was born to a Japanese father, Mutsuo Hakamada, a communist who defected to the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in 1939, and Nina Sinelnikova, who is of Russian and Armenian roots, schoolteacher who lost her father to the Stalinist purges and her mother to suicide following the family's forced relocation to Khabarovsk. Her paternal uncle is Satomi Hakamada, a longtime member of the Japanese Communist Party
Japanese Communist Party
The Japanese Communist Party is a left-wing political party in Japan.The JCP advocates the establishment of a society based on socialism, democracy and peace, and opposition to militarism...
leadership. The Russia expert and Aoyama Gakuin University
Aoyama Gakuin University
, abbreviated AGU, is a Japanese Christian university in Shibuya near Omotesandō, Tokyo, Japan. Aoyama Gakuin University is part of a comprehensive educational institute called Aoyama Gakuin, which includes a kindergarten, an elementary school, junior and senior high schools, and a women's junior...
political science professor Shigeki Hakamada is her half-brother. In Kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
, her family name is ; in katakana
Katakana
is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...
, her name is イリーナ・ハカマダ.
She graduated from the Department of Economy of the Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University in Moscow in 1978. She later obtained her PhD degree from the Faculty of Economics of Lomonosov Moscow State University
MSU Faculty of Economics
MSU Faculty of Economics is a faculty of the Moscow State University. It is one of the main educational centres in Russian Federation, preparing qualified economists with broad university education....
.
Irina Khakamada was an elected Duma
Duma
A Duma is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. The State Duma in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation corresponds to the lower house of the parliament. Simply it is a form of Russian governmental institution, that was formed during the reign of the...
representative from 1993 to 2003. She is commonly regarded as a democratic politician who is in a moderate opposition to the Russian government. She is known for criticizing the governmental actions during Moscow theater hostage crisis
Moscow theater hostage crisis
The Moscow theater hostage crisis, also known as the 2002 Nord-Ost siege, was the seizure of the crowded Dubrovka Theater on 23 October 2002 by some 40 to 50 armed Chechens who claimed allegiance to the Islamist militant separatist movement in Chechnya. They took 850 hostages and demanded the...
where she was involved as one of the negotiators. Khakamada stated that the hostage takers were not going to use their bombs to kill the people and destroy the building http://2004.novayagazeta.ru/nomer/2004/02n/n02n-s13.shtml. This opinion was supported by other negotiators including Anna Politkovskaya
Anna Politkovskaya
Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya was a Russian journalist, author, and human rights activist known for her opposition to the Chechen conflict and then-President of Russia Vladimir Putin...
and by the subsequent events when the Chechens did not use their bombs.
Khakamada was one of the leaders of the Union of Right Forces
Union of Right Forces
The Union of Right Forces, or SPS , was a Russian democratic opposition party associated with free market reforms, privatization, and the legacy of the 'Young Reformers' of the 1990s: Anatoly Chubais, Boris Nemtsov, and Yegor Gaidar. Nikita Belykh was the last party's leader...
, when she decided to run in the Russian presidential election, 2004
Russian presidential election, 2004
Presidential elections were held in Russia on 14 March 2004. Incumbent Vladimir Putin was seeking a second full four-year term. He was re-elected with 71.31% of the vote.-Sergey Glazyev:...
. She was not supported by her own party, because they regarded her as the only opponent of president Putin (all other candidates were not opposed to the President's policies). She received 3.9% of votes http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3511164.stm. Publicist Yulia Latynina
Yulia Latynina
Yulia Leonidovna Latynina is a Russian journalist, writer and radio host. She works at the radio station Echo of Moscow. She also writes for Novaya Gazeta and The Moscow Times.-Writer, journalist and radio host:...
in her article in Novaya Gazeta
Novaya Gazeta
Novaya Gazeta is a Russian newspaper well known in the country for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs....
http://2004.novayagazeta.ru/nomer/2004/03n/n03n-s03.shtml claimed that she only staged a role of a democratic opponent to provide more legitimacy to the election of Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
, a role that Grigory Alexeyevich Yavlinsky
Grigory Alexeyevich Yavlinsky
Grigory Alexeyevich Yavlinsky is a Russian economist and politician of Ukrainian origin. He is best known as the author of the 500 Days Programme, a plan for the transition of the USSR to a free-market economy, and for his leadership of the liberal Yabloko party...
refused to play. However, Khakamada denied such allegations.
After the election, Khakamada founded a political party, Our Choice, which eventually merged with the People's Democratic Union
People's Democratic Union (Russia)
The People's Democratic Union is a liberal opposition political party in Russia. Member of opposition coalition The Other Russia. The party was founded by former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov after he failed to win the leadership of the Democratic Party of Russia...
led by Mikhail Kasyanov
Mikhail Kasyanov
Mikhail Mikhailovich Kasyanov - was the Prime Minister of Russia from May 2000 to February 2004.He is the leader of the People's Democratic Union and an ex-member of the opposition coalition "The Other Russia".-Political career:...
and her. She published book "Gender in big-time politics" describing her personal experience of work in Kremlin.
Claims of receiving and passing threats
On June 11, 2006 Boris Berezovsky said Boris NemtsovBoris Nemtsov
Boris Efimovich Nemtsov is a Russian politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of Russia from 1997 to 1998. He was a co-founder of the Russian political party Union of Right Forces and is an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin.-Early life:...
received a word from Khakamada that Putin threatened her and like-minded colleagues in person. According to Berezovsky, a fugitive from Russian justice, and one of the individuals most compromised in the massive asset stripping of the later Yeltsin years, Putin had issued threats that Khakamada and her colleagues "totake in the head immediately, literally, not figuratively" if they "open the mouth" about the Russian apartment bombings
Russian apartment bombings
The Russian apartment bombings were a series of explosions that hit four apartment blocks in the Russian cities of Buynaksk, Moscow, and Volgodonsk in September 1999, killing 293 people and injuring 651. The explosions occurred in Buynaksk on 4 September, Moscow on 9 and 13 September, and...
.. Why Putin would have chosen to convey this message via Berezovsky, we are left to guess.
On October 19, 2006 at the Frontline Club
Frontline Club
The Frontline Club is a media club near London's Paddington Station. With a strong emphasis on conflict reporting, it aims to champion independent journalism, provide an effective platform from which to support diversity and professionalism in the media, promote safe practice, and encourage both...
former FSB
FSB (Russia)
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation is the main domestic security agency of the Russian Federation and the main successor agency of the Soviet Committee of State Security . Its main responsibilities are counter-intelligence, internal and border security, counter-terrorism, and...
officer Alexander Litvinenko
Alexander Litvinenko
Alexander Valterovich Litvinenko was an officer who served in the Soviet KGB and its Russian successor, the Federal Security Service ....
said he had learned from Anna Politkovskaya
Anna Politkovskaya
Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya was a Russian journalist, author, and human rights activist known for her opposition to the Chechen conflict and then-President of Russia Vladimir Putin...
that Putin asked Khakamada to pass a threat to Politkovskaya. Khakamada denied her involvement in passing any specific threats, and said that she warned Politkovskaya only in general terms more than a year ago, and that Politkovskaya blamed her and Mikhail Kasyanov
Mikhail Kasyanov
Mikhail Mikhailovich Kasyanov - was the Prime Minister of Russia from May 2000 to February 2004.He is the leader of the People's Democratic Union and an ex-member of the opposition coalition "The Other Russia".-Political career:...
for becoming Kremlin's puppets. Politkovskaya and Litvinenko died in October and November 2006, Politkovskaya almost certainly as revenge for her writings on Chechen warlords, LItvinienko of radiation poisoning, possibly intentional, possibly accidental while smuggling polonium, an element in nuclear triggers.
English
- Profile — from mosnews.com
- A challenger for the presidency
Russian
- Official site
- Irina Khakamada about her book
- A chapter from the book
- Another chapter from the book
- Irina Khakamada about hostage crisis, interview by Anna PolitkovskayaAnna PolitkovskayaAnna Stepanovna Politkovskaya was a Russian journalist, author, and human rights activist known for her opposition to the Chechen conflict and then-President of Russia Vladimir Putin...
- Presidential race
- Criticism by Yulia LatyninaYulia LatyninaYulia Leonidovna Latynina is a Russian journalist, writer and radio host. She works at the radio station Echo of Moscow. She also writes for Novaya Gazeta and The Moscow Times.-Writer, journalist and radio host:...
- Reply to the criticism
- Interview - Radio Free Europe
- Interview - Radio Free Europe
- Interview - Radio Free Europe