Posted on 12/07/2011 10:24:29 AM PST by goldstategop
ormer Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has said Sunday's Russian parliamentary election was marred by fraud and has called for a re-run.
"The country's leaders must admit there were numerous falsifications and rigging and the results do not reflect the people's will," he said.
Protesters were planning new rallies for Saturday as arrests in Tuesday's crackdown in reached 800 across Russia.
Key figures in the protest movement are starting 15-day jail sentences.
State TV channels have ignored the protests, giving coverage only to rallies in support of the government.
Disregard for public opinion is discrediting the authorities and destabilising the situation”
The centre of Moscow saw its biggest protest against the rule of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his allies in years on Monday, when several thousand people came out to condemn widely reported fraud at Sunday's parliamentary elections.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
I thought he was running a liquor store down in Newport Beach??
No. He’s an elder statesman and chairman of the Gorbachev Foundation. He is credited with introducing democracy and freedom of expression to Russia. He has not always been right but he is an honest man - the Russian elite in general is seen by average Russians as venal, self-interested and corrupt. I think he speaks for the vast majority of Russians. The Russian government is trying to create the impression it won fair and square. People know it didn’t and that is the problem.
He looks like Uncle Fester with a bad rash on his head now.
He’s a decent man, intelligent, well-read and open to a new ideas. People blame him for the collapse of the USSR but it wasn’t his fault. The Communist nomenklatura resisted change every step of the way. These same people, with their authoritarian mentality, are in charge of Russia today. People have to demand accountability and freedom. The powers that be concede nothing without a demand.
Well...... Gorby’s goal as First Secretary CPSU was to save the Soviet Union, period. He failed, but still believes in state socialism and has said some harsh things about Western free enterprise.
If Mikhail Sergeyevich is now a small-d democrat then it’s a road to Damascus conversion for someone whose formative years were spent under Stalin.
Real question: does Gorby live in Russia or the United States? A lot of Russians not all of them flaming communists blame him for the downfall of their system, the fall of which V.V. Putin describes as a `world catastrophe’.
If he wants genuine democracy for Russia, then better late than never.
Gorbachev wanted a truly federal, democratic and humane Soviet Union. The Communist hard-liners brought about its demise because they wanted to preserve their power and privileges. He clearly has undergone an evolution in his political beliefs. Gorbachev is now a Social Democrat, not a Communist. He doesn’t agree with everything about the Western model but that’s a legitimate criticism. That said, he is correct Russia’s current leaders are abusing the trust of the people. They have lost their fear of the regime. Its no longer easy, like it was in the Brezhnev era, to keep a lid on dissent. People in Russia don’t want a return to the “era of stagnation.” If the authorities refuse to listen, things are going to continue to deteriorate there.
Sounds like something we should do here now and then. All indications are that fraud is endemic in most urban areas. Other than smaller elections like the fraud that got Franken snuck in, might be too extensive to get a handle on.
I’ll take your word for it, was sort of a juvenile comment on my part.
I can’t stand Putin and see him as a step back in time. I feel he is taking as much as our weak President will give him. Is that right?
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