Posted on 12/08/2003 12:02:09 PM PST by Pubbie
Europe's top security and human rights watchdog has condemned recent elections in Russia as a retreat from the democratic reforms adopted after the fall of the Soviet Union. In this news analysis, CBS News' Beth Knobel explains why.
Russia's political landscape looks radically different after Sunday's election for the lower house of parliament, the State Duma. The liberals are out. The nationalists are in. And the big winner was United Russia, the political party backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin isn't actually a member of any political bloc, but he openly campaigned for United Russia. And United Russia made no secret of its ties to Putin. Its campaign slogan was "Together with the President."
Candidates from other political parties in Russia's still-developing democratic system have accused United Russia of using strong-armed tactics to get its candidates elected.
Officials who run United Russia - including the national police chief, the Emergencies Minister, and the Mayor of Moscow - reportedly told millions of government workers to work for the party - or else. That kind of administrative power helped Putin's party overpower the competition.
"Clearly, the abuse of the democratic system which we're witnessing in this election is absolutely unparalleled in the modern history of Russia," said Boris Fyodorov, a former Russian finance minister running for Duma in Moscow.
Fyodorov is not a member of United Russia, and he said that because he was not part of the party of power, he had trouble mounting a campaign. Fyodorov said his campaign workers were harassed by the police daily.
Just moments after a CBS News crew went out with his campaign workers in Moscow last week, Fyodorov's campaigners were detained by a group of policemen who seized their campaign literature.
Because of United Russia's Putin connection, its candidates got positive coverage on national television, which is all state controlled. And its opponents got pounded - especially the Communist party.
Gennady Zyuganov, the Communist Party leader, called United Russia's tactics fascist, and blamed the Communists' poor showing on unfair press coverage.
Coverage for United Russia candidates dominated the airways in the weeks before the election. Even on election day, Russian television channels featured members of United Russia voting - and hardly anyone else.
Russian election law prohibited President Putin from giving any last-minute endorsements as he went to vote Sunday, but he did remind his countrymen that, "My preference is clear" - alluding to United Russia.
The liberals also suffered from United Russia's tactics. Mikhail Zadornov, a third-term congressman from the liberal Yabloko party, said he's never seen administrative resources used in this way by any Russian government to defeat its opponents.
"All the vertical channels of power, from the mayor to the street sweeper, are working to create a win for United Russia," he said.
When Zadornov arranged a meeting with constituents last week, the best space the local government would offer him as an opponent of United Russia was a half-lit auditorium that was so cold, people had to sit in their coats.
Almost every store, every kiosk, every bus stop in the Zadornov's Moscow district was pushing United Russia. Zadornov's aide showed CBS News how their ads were vandalized on an almost daily basis. Every time they put up a Zadornov poster, Vladimir Grishenko said that it would either be torn down, or covered up with ads for Zadornov's challenger from United Russia.
"They do this in a lot of places in this, our district," Grishenko said, peeling off United Russia ads on a bus shelter to reveal the ad for his boss below.
Zadornov sent over 200 observers to monitor the vote count. With the government pushing one party, he feared it might falsify try to the results.
International observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have concluded that the elections were free, but not fair, given the uneven playing field created by the government in favor of United Russia.
Zadornov won his seat, and will be one of only four members of the Yabloko party to sit in the next Duma. Other liberal parties like the Union of Right Forces will also be all but gone in the new legislature.
Only four parties will have a significant presence in the next Duma - United Russia, the Communist Party, the Liberal Democrats of extremist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, and a new nationalist party called Motherland (Rodina). But given the dominance of United Russia, this election looks a lot like a return to the bad old days of one-party rule.
Who is that? Why are security and human rights combined in one group?
That's more than we have in our congress.
Sorelosermanovitch alert?
Oh and also problem with seeing eye dogs, lack of ramps and geratole run out before election....most not know which chad to push and some just want nap through whole thing...remembering "good" ole days of many past years.
We must have revote, and now! We must continue revote, until proper result of untermensch is obtained!
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