I mean today I am one of the 10,000 people learning this for the first time. But it does seem like an awkward term which seems to mean “high level government official who is likely to be corrupt” or just “politician”. Don’t really see the need for this wordplay to be honest.
Interesting, I've mostly heard it referring to individuals like Navalny or the mayor of Istanbul. I suppose it makes sense for it to refer to any random political critter.