In the highly controlled environment of Russian domestic politics, there are few surprises. Russia is a managed democracy in which political changes and election outcomes are carefully orchestrated by the Kremlin.
Within this context, the surprise announcement that Mikhail Prokhorov, Russia's third richest man, is taking the reins of liberal political party Right Cause is no surprise at all. Prokhorov's political debut signals that the Kremlin's preparations for parliamentary elections, due in December, are already under way.
In the 1990s, Russian oligarchs like Boris Berezovsky and Vladimir Gusinsky commanded vast economic and media empires, giving them political independence and influence. But the era of the oligarchs ended with the jailing of Yukos billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky in 2003. Khodorkovsky's fate sent the clear message that oligarchs who valued their wealth and freedom should stay out of politics.