Posted on 09/22/2007 3:27:22 PM PDT by decimon
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The leader of Russia's Communist Party accused President Vladimir Putin on Saturday of piling up vast powers and said the Kremlin's main party represented billionaires rather than ordinary people.
"He (President Vladimir Putin) has more power today than the Pharaoh of Egypt, the Tsar, and the Soviet Union's General Secretary combined," veteran Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov told a party congress on the outskirts of Moscow.
"He has four times more power than the quite powerful president of the United States," said Zyuganov, whose party is the country's number two political force with 162,000 members.
Zyuganov said his party, the successor to the all-powerful Soviet Communists, hoped to win at least a fifth of seats in elections this December for the State Duma (lower house of parliament). It currently has just over 10 percent of deputies.
The Duma is dominated by United Russia, a party patronized by Putin, which enjoys a two-thirds majority.
Zyuganov said he was the only real opponent of the Kremlin and added he was gaining new supporters as voters were getting bored with unfulfilled promises from United Russia, which he said represented the rich, with over 30 billionaires among its Duma members.
"They (United Russia) have billionaires. We have millions (of supporters) behind us," he added.
The December elections will be closely watched as a dress rehearsal for a presidential vote next March.
The most recent poll by the independent Yuri Levada Centre showed this week that the Communists could gain 18 percent of seats in December, while United Russia would secure 55 percent.
Another pro-Kremlin party, Fair Russia, would get seven percent and the nationalist LDPR, which often votes with the government, would gain 11 percent.
The Communists used to dominate the Duma in the 1990s during the turbulent years of Boris Yeltsin's presidency.
But as Russia's oil-fuelled economy booms, the Communists face a tough political challenge to win back popularity.
The Communists have complained they are not getting a fair share of airtime on television, which is dominated by pro-Kremlin parties. However Putin met Zyuganov this week to discuss the elections and Zyuganov's Saturday speech was aired live on the state television channel Vesti-24.
MOOD LIFTED BY WINS
Zyuganov said the mood in the Communists' camp had been lifted by wins this year in regional elections, which he said had shown that the dominance of United Russia can be broken.
"In (the east Siberian region of) Krasnoyarsk, where the results usually coincide with the whole country, we had 20-22 percent. And in some regions we had over 30 percent. Let's be guided by these figures...," he told delegates.
He also denounced analysts' observations that his electorate was shrinking as it was mostly composed of elderly people.
"The most educated part of our society is voting today for the Communists. And young people are turning up every day," he said, adding that his goal was to win the undecided votes.
On Saturday, Zyuganov again denounced what he termed a "black propaganda" campaign to discredit himself by falsely accusing him of excessive drinking and paying a huge bill for an adult pay TV channel while on holiday in Ukraine.
Zyuganov did not run for president in 2004 when Putin was re-elected by more than 70 percent of votes. The outspoken Communist did not say if he would run for president in March 2008, when Putin must step down after two consecutive terms.
Putin, who has huge influence over voters because of his very high poll ratings, has yet to say whom he will back.
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"He has four times more power than the quite powerful president of the United States,"...
Feel the power!
they sound like they are amassing capital
Pretty cool that the Russians are free enough to even have this argument.
Russia fact: Only significant opposition to Putin in Russia are- communists!
Kapital.
I don't know what the correct proportion is, but the Putin is definitely more powerful in Russia than the US President is stateside. Putin gets to dismiss governors, harass opposition journalists and seize the assets of his political opponents. No US President has had any of these powers save during the Civil War.
Pooty-Poot The Terrible. It has a certain ring to it.
Not if you look deeply into his eyes.
Thanks for the Heineken nose flush.
You got that right. I remember when...
Not only that, but they have at least four political parties that get significant seating in the Duma. We're stuck with a 2-party system that satisfies no one. When a significant 3rd party arises (as in 1992 and 2000) all it does it hand an election to one of the major two.
I'd like to see the US have four or even more parties, with enough balance that the 3rd or 4th could have more than a "deal-maker" position, and really get some representation in Congress, maybe even seat a President from time to time.
You guys are envying Russia for their political system!?
Gasp!
It's all about the oil. Petrol envy.
Most of Europe has this kind of system. And the results have been a profoundly socialist bent to their governments. We have enough problems assigning responsibility and getting accountability in a two-party system. How the heck do you do that in a four party system? In my view, the more parties you have, the closer you get to direct democracy (i.e. rule of the mob), where you get everyone pointing fingers at everyone else. I like the two party system just fine.
Putin Shuffles the Deckchairs
For some reason western media outlets are acting as though today’s announced cabinet reorganization by Vladimir Putin is in some way significant. It is nothing more than a ritual. Nor does it have much to do with the December 2nd parliamentary elections, which are little more than a farce scripted long ago. Putin will use this ostensibly open phase to sound out his cronies and prolong the tension that is building toward the crisis of the March 08 presidential election, the one that really matters.
Medvedev and Ivanov will be shopped around a bit, though we doubt either of them are destined to sit in Putin’s Tzarist throne. Perhaps a few insufficiently loyal members will be replaced, as has been the trend when any crisis nears.
By the way, the possibility of a third time for Putin has again reared its head. He will speak at the United Russia party congress on October 2 and the tone of that address will tell the story. The UR had announced the date of the event before Putin signed the decree formally authorizing the December 2nd elections. Campaigns can start one month after the decree is published, but it wasn’t released until September 5. This means other parties cannot being until October 5th, ceding the sovereign United Russia a head-start they surely don’t need. Of course they cannot hold an open primary to select their presidential candidate. It must either be Putin or a named successor or their image as the “official party of power” will be marred.
As one columnist recently put it, Russia does have a two-party system. There’s the party of oil and the party of gas…
Good lord, no. (Check my profile page if you doubt that.) Just wishing for more political parties, that's all. Geez. I'm not the only one on this forum who thinks that both the Dems and Reps have their heads up their keisters.
> It's all about the oil. Petrol envy.
Now, that's funny (petrol envy)!
“Pretty cool that the Russians are free enough to even have this argument.”
Pardon me? What argument, that Putin is 4 times more powerful then Tsar?
I don't think the 2-party political system is responsible for the outstanding success of America over 200+ years. I think it has to do with the U.S. Constitution, the finest governmental document in the history of the world, in my opinion. And nowhere in the Constitution is a 2-party political structure prescribed or even assumed.
I would hate for America to go socialist and would resist that with every bit of strength I have (it's already gone much to far in that direction). But I don't think that having viable 3rd or 4th parties would do that.
Europe's political and governmental problems run much deeper than merely having multiple viable parties on the ballot.
Currently Russia has a strange system that is a little bit of both cobbled together with an elected executive autocracy.
Our system is tailor made for 2 parties, it’s essentially still a “winner-take-all” system. All the losing party can realistically do is play a delaying defense game until the next election.
Now to get what you want would take a major constitutional change. Something I do not want. Can you imagine the present group of nitwits & yahoos in a constitutional convention?
Not sure I agree, but hold that thought...
> In a parliamentary system a legislative majority picks the head of government. The head of state is a king or some other executive sounding title.
Okay, that's generally true.
> Currently Russia has a strange system that is a little bit of both cobbled together with an elected executive autocracy.
Okay, I'll accept that description.
> Our system is tailor made for 2 parties, it’s essentially still a “winner-take-all” system. All the losing party can realistically do is play a delaying defense game until the next election.
I don't agree. My reading of the Constitution does not prescribe a 2-party system, and nothing in that glorious document prohibits multiple viable parties. It is only the force of habit, having had a virtually 2-party system for a long time, that makes it hard for us to imagine America with more than 2 parties.
> Now to get what you want would take a major constitutional change. Something I do not want.
Me neither. What major change to the Constitution would be required? Which Articles or Sections, specifically, prescribe a 2-party system (or prohibit more than 2 parties) either explicitly or implicitly?
> Can you imagine the present group of nitwits & yahoos in a constitutional convention?
Good lord. [shudder]
This is very different than Washington DC where both parties represent the billionaires.
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