Posted on 06/29/2005 10:57:47 PM PDT by familyop
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's parliament on Wednesday approved on second reading a raft of amendments to election rules, which critics say would further tighten the Kremlin's grip on power if implemented. If introduced, the changes, proposed by President Vladimir Putin, would ban political parties merging into blocs to stand in elections and scrap the "against all" option, used as a protest vote, on ballot papers in regional polls.
Putin has been accused by opponents and some Western governments of endangering democracy through sweeping political reforms he said were needed after last year's deadly Beslan school siege carried out by Chechen rebels. "From June 29 any elections held in Russia can only be called elections in quotation marks," said opposition deputy Vladimir Ryzhkov. "Election law has been rewritten to suit the needs of the authorities," he said.
The changes to the election law follow Putin's abolition of gubernatorial elections to make regional leaders Kremlin appointees instead.
New rules on elections to the State Duma lower house of parliament and on forming political parties -- which effectively bar small parties and independent candidates from the chamber -- have already been passed by legislators.
Putin says reform is needed to create more effective instruments for governing his sprawling country which stretches across 11 time zones.
The latest amendments to the election law must pass a third reading before being sent for approval to the Federation Council upper house of parliament, after which Putin must sign them into law.
The Kremlin-controlled United Russia party holds two thirds of seats in the Duma, enough to pass legislation single-handedly.
Let us hope so.
Or do you think this is an innocent move on the part of Putin/Unity?
Politics and innocence do not mix well. As Graham Greene said "innocence is like a dumb leper who has lost his bell, wandering the world, meaning no harm."
If you are for Putin increasing his grip, are you also in favor of Russia and China joining forces against the USA?
(Excerpt) The accord also prominently recycled language that China has pushed in international agreements for decades: "All countries of the world should strictly observe the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual nonaggression, noninterference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence."
Vasily Mikheyev, deputy director of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said the declaration was "to some extent counterproductive because it is composed in an old diplomatic style, in the spirit of the Cold War -- that is, the declaration is full of cliches from Cold War times."
Link:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/07/02/MNG3FDI5OA1.DTL
I wish that Putin succeeds same way as de Gaulle succeeded in pulling France from chaos.
are you also in favor of Russia and China joining forces against the USA?
No, I am in favor of Russia friendly to USA. And also if it is possible I wish for friendly relations between USA and China.
But I would like the MFN status of China to be revised or at least some well calibrated tariffs imposed on imports from China.
==No, I am in favor of Russia friendly to USA. And also if it is possible I wish for friendly relations between USA and China.
So why do you suppose they are joining forces against the US?
If they do it would be for the balance of power. If some day China become the strongest nation it might be USA and Russia "joining forces". Russia, China, France, India, and several other countries desire "multipolar world".
I suspect that "multipolar world" would be better for USA since being the world leader or hegemon is too exhausting and sooner or later leads to ruin.
So you think they are joining forces to take the pressure off the USA? (Just kidding :o)
On a side note, this doesn't help him either, because his side controls the parliment but was itself elected as a block of 3 parties.
Small parties can run all they want, they just have to run as themselves, not riding the coat tales of the communists and other bigger parties. Now they actually have to sell their ideas to the public instead of getting a hand out.
Next time do some homework. Either you have poor reading comprehension skills or are ignorant of such things or know the facts full well but are here to advocate a position and thus distort truth for that agenda.
For some reason you sound like TapTheSource.
Who is "TapTheSource"?
In theology we use what is called higher criticism to determine the author? You're an easy match.
"In theology we use what is called higher criticism to determine the author"
Do you do this to everybody, or are you just happy to see me?
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