Navalny Says Tatarstan Not Treated Fairly

Russian opposition political activist and anticorruption campaigner Aleksei Navalny said that, if elected president, he would support more self-rule for the semiautonomous Tatarstan region. Speaking in an interview with RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service in Kazan, the Tatar capital, Navalny said on March 5 that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been gradually limiting powers previously given to Russia's regions. Making a stop in Tatarstan as part of his early campaign tour ahead of the country's presidential election in 2018, Navalny also commented on the March 3 decision by Russia's Central Bank to revoke the licenses of three banks -- Tatfondbank, Intechbank, and Ankor Bank -- in which the regional government is a majority stakeholder. He suggested the decision may be tantamount to collective punishment for Tatar officials, who had earlier made statements critical of moves to curtail their decentralized powers.(RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service)