The Russia Blog
Saturday saw Muscovites take to the streets in a duelling pair of rallies expressing both support and opposition for Vladimir Putin and his campaign to return to the Russian Presidency.
The rallies attracted between 75,000 and 200,000 people in total, but no-one really knows for sure how many attended. With all the different claims and… Read the rest
The Central Election Commission (CEC) has confirmed liberal Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky and independent candidate Dmitry Mezentsev will not be allowed to enter the 2012 Russian Presidential Election.
Although both candidates claimed that they had obtained the 2 million signatures needed for a candidate from a party not represented in the Duma to secure a… Read the rest
Opposition politicians Mikhail Prokhorov and Grigory Yavlinsky have each announced that they have collected the two million signatures needed for them to enter the 2012 Russian Presidential election race.
Prokhorov, who with $18 billion to his name is Russia’s third richest man, plans to run as an independent candidate with no party backing and Yavlinsky… Read the rest
Outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev used his final State of the Nation address to promise a “comprehensive reform” of Russia’s political system.
Key proposals include directly elected regional governors, making it much easier for new political parties to register for parliamentary and presidential elections, and a form of proportional representation in the State Duma.… Read the rest
It’s been a busy few days for Russian elections news, so I thought I’d roundup a few of the key stories that caught my eye.
Webcams in every polling station
In his recent marathon TV interview, Vladimir Putin proposed placing webcams in every single polling station during March’s Presidential election. The proposal came in reaction… Read the rest
Mikhail Prokhorov’s dramatic entry into the 2012 Russian Presidential race has caused confusion among analysts. Put simply, no-one can fathom why Russia’s third richest man would want to have another stab at entering Russian politics.
After his humiliating failure this summer – Prokhorov announced to great fanfare that he would turn Right Cause into a… Read the rest
Protests took place in Moscow on Monday as people unhappy at United Russia’s manipulation of Sunday’s Russian Duma election took to the streets.
Numbers are difficult to judge, but it appears that around 5-6,000 people protested earlier in the day, breaking off into a smaller group of around 1,000 that then went on to… Read the rest
United Russia won 49.54% of the popular vote in this weekend’s Duma Election, which was just enough to secure it an overall majority in the Duma.
By and large, election observers felt that the ballot itself was run fairly across the country, BUT, there were a few ballots in which the results were just absurd.… Read the rest
The big story of this year’s Russian Duma election is that United Russia’s share of the vote has dropped below the psychologically critical 50% mark. With 95% of ballots counted, United Russia has 49.67% of votes which, because of the 7% threshold needed for parties to enter Russia’s Duma, means that United Russia will actually… Read the rest
The 2011 Russian Duma elections are underway today.
Results (even preliminary results) are not expected until late this evening and tomorrow. United Russia, the party led by Vladimir Putin, has slipped slightly in the polls recently and is expected to lose the constitutional supermajority that it currently holds – it is, however, still expected… Read the rest
There was more unrest and behind the scenes politicking in South Ossetia today, following the Supreme Court’s decision yesterday to annull the results of the election and ban Alla Dzhioyeva – the opposition candidate who looked to have secured victory – from participating in a re-run.
Dzhioyeva has refused to accept the Supreme Court’s decision,… Read the rest
The South Ossetian Supreme Court has dramatically and controversially annulled the results of its Presidential election. In announcing its verdict, it also banned Alla Dzhioyeva – the opposition candidate who appeared to have won the election – from competing in a re-run of the election scheduled for March 2012.
RIA Novosti reports that
The South Ossetian Presidential election looks like it will descend into bitter recrimination as both candidates have claimed victory.
With more than 85% of the votes counted, opposition candidate Alla Dzhioyeva is reported to have secured 56.74% of the vote. If correct, this would leave the Emergencies Minister, and leader of the Unity… Read the rest
Opposition to legislation designed to outlaw the promotion of homosexuality to minors is gathering pace, both around the world and in Russia itself.
The bill, which would punish any “public activities promoting sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality and transgender identity” with a fine of up to $1,600 (50,000 roubles) was passed by an overwhelming majority in… Read the rest
In an odd piece of news, Marina Smirnova, a candidate for the A Just Russia party, has been barred from standing as a candidate in this year’s Russian Duma elections. The story is notable because Smirnova is the daughter in law of Igor Smirnov, the leader of Transnistria (the breakaway Moldovan republic that has,… Read the rest
I was amused to see RIA Novosti reporting the arrest of a con-man who had attempted to sell government posts to gullible businessmen.
In a statement, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that: “the suspect offered to sell senior government posts to interested parties, such as the post of deputy governor of St.… Read the rest
More than “16,000 police officers, Interior Ministry troops and police helpers” were on the streets of Moscow this weekend to “ensure order” during the Moscow City Day celebrations (source: RIA Novosti).
The weekend’s festivities passed off without any serious trouble, which is great. But I wonder, was anyone really expecting the kind of trouble… Read the rest
In one of the oddest public pronouncements of this year’s Russian Duma election campaign, the Chairman of political party A Just Russia has just offered to form an alliance with the Russian Communist Party.
This despite the fact that (a) formal coalitions are banned in Russia and (b) A Just Russia already has an… Read the rest
Reading about the visit of North Korea’s Dear Leader to Russia, I stumbled across this gem of a quote from RIA Novosti. So good, in fact, that I thought I should take a screenshot and publish it here before it gets taken down!
According to RIA Novosti: “Kim may also meet with Russia’s increasingly autocratic… Read the rest
So, imagine you’re Vladimir Putin, and you’re constructing the Duma of your dreams. What would it look like?
First things first. You’ve got work to do, after all, so your Duma has to do exactly what you tell it to. No unexpected surprises. You absolutely have to have a clear majority in the Duma.
But,… Read the rest
