Dmitry Medvedev has submitted a draft law proposing the formation of new electoral districts to the Russian State Duma. However, his initiative comes amid signs that his ambitious proposals for electoral reform may be coming up against sustained opposition within the Duma. 225 new electoral districts The draft law is the latest of a series [...]
Medvedev promises reforms in his final State of the Nation address
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. Reform [...]
CSTO slams door on US bases in Central Asia
The Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) today announced that no-one will be able to establish military bases on the territory of a CSTO member state without the express agreement of all other member states. In practice, this is a setback for the United States, who will find it next to impossible to establish a new [...]
Mikhail Prokhorov: Russia’s next Prime Minister?
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 [...]
Moscow Protests: For now or the future?
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 Triumfalnaya [...]
How United Russia stole victory
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. [...]
Russian Duma Election 2011: United Russia support slumps below 50%
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 [...]
Russian Elections Today
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 to [...]
Unrest in South Ossetia after Presidential election annulled
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, [...]
A coup in South Ossetia?
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 Dzhioyeva’s supporters [...]