The Moscow election, if nothing else, has established Navalny as the major opposition figure to Putin and his Kremlin cronies. He has the issues —anti corruption and economic reform — on his side. Russians in general are weary after sixteen years of Putin. They need a new face with new ideas. Navalny also faces a jail term, but how do you bury your major political rival in jail? Putin has been able to imprison oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky for a decade on trumped up charges because he was an unpopular figure. Can the Kremlin now put the person, who is probably Russia most popular political figure, in jail on trumped up charges? No doubt. Putin would not hesitate one second, but his Kremlin cronies might baulk.
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