Editorials: As vote nears, Russians tiring of Putin and of his competitors | latimes.com

When Russian leader Vladimir Putin climbed into the martial arts ring in the Olimpiysky Palace in downtown Moscow recently to congratulate a Russian wrestler who had quite convincingly beaten his American opponent, he was greeted by an unfamiliar sound. The crowd, which, given the high ticket price, consisted mostly of wealthy and middle-class Russians, booed, with some shouting, “Go away!”

The prime minister’s press service later hurried to explain that it was a misunderstanding and that the audience last week was booing not Putin but American fighter Jeff Monson, who was being led away from the hall at the same time. “The booing was obviously aimed at Monson,” said Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman. “It is absurd to speak about some message sent to Putin!”

Russia: Kremlin accused of silencing Russia’s independent election watchdog | Telegraph

State prosecutors paid a surprise visit to the Moscow office of Golos (‘Voice’), a Western-sponsored but operationally independent election watchdog, on Thursday and served it with legal papers accusing it of breaking the country’s election law. Demanding that its representatives appear in a Moscow courtroom on Friday morning, prosecutors accused the group of consistently painting a negative picture of an unnamed political party, an overt reference to Mr Putin’s United Russia party.

“It is obvious that the people who organised this campaign against us are the same people who are committing electoral fraud across the country,” GrigoryMelkonyants, Golos’ executive director, told The Daily Telegraph. “It is an act of administrative (government pressure). It is a special operation designed to put us out of action and to destroy the only independent election watchdog in Russia.”

Russia: Russia to Hold Presidential Elections in March 2012 | Voice of America

Russia’s upper house of parliament formally set March 4, 2012 as the date for the country’s presidential election. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is widely expected to return to the job for a third term after President Dmitry Medvedev in September agreed to step aside, in a job swap with Mr. Putin.

The prospect of having the former president return to power apparently has some Russians upset. Mr. Putin was recently, and unprecedentedly, booed in public at a sporting event in Moscow and he has fallen in some public opinion polls. This rare show of animosity towards one of Russia’s most popular men has analysts weighing in.

Russia: Opposition calls for election boycott | Ahram Online

“We consider the December 4 parliamentary elections illegitimate and call for a boycott of these disgraceful ‘elections’ in every reasonable way,” said a declaration signed by Kasparov and other vocal but marginalised opponents of the Kremlin. “It’s an appeal to consciously ignore cooperation with the current authorities,” Kasparov, who leads the United Civil Front movement, said at a press conference.

Last month’s announcement that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will seek to swap seats with President Dmitry Medvedev in 2012 presidential elections essentially told people “that voters no longer exist in the country,” he said. “We need to put a lot of effort into pulling the country from the claws of Putin’s dictatorship,” he said, adding that boycotting both the parliamentary and the presidential elections would be the first step.

 

Germany: Berlin suggests sending election observers to Russia | The Local

The German government on Monday called on Russia to see that next year’s presidential election observed “democratic principles,” and added that it would welcome a plan to send in independent election observers. Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said, “From a German point of view, it would be very helpful if a sufficient number of election observers were allowed into the country.”

But he also made it clear that the “strategic partnership” between Russia and Germany was of primary importance, and would be used as the basis for a continued close cooperation with any successor to President Dmitry Medvedev.

Russia: Elections boss says Putin’s presidency not done deal | Russian Times

Vladimir Churov, the head of the Central Electoral Commission, has told the press that the question of Vladimir Putin’s presidency will be finally decided only after the 2012 elections.

Churov was holding a press conference dedicated to future parliamentary and presidential elections in Moscow on Monday. When a reporter asked him if Dmitry Medvedev’s suggestion to the United Russia party to support Vladimir Putin as a candidate at the presidential elections meant the outcome of the elections was already pre-determined, Churov said that it was not so.

“This was not a question, rather a statement and it was a categorical one. I must say at once that I don’t agree with it,” Churov said. The Russian elections chief said that for him the election result will be known only by 9am on the next day after Election Day, when the Electoral Commission receives preliminary reports from over 99 per cent of ballot stations.

Russia: Election chief says turnout is key | Russia Beyond The Headlines

Elections for the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, are approaching; the vote is scheduled for December. This election differs from previous ones, however, in that the deputies who are elected will remain in office for five years instead of four, as was the case previously. The constitutional majority currently held by the United Russia party, headed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, is also at stake. This majority has formally enabled the party of power to pass legislation without regard for the opinion of other deputies.

So the main question of the December elections is whether the opposition will be able to force United Russia to make room for them in the State Duma. The results of the vote could also affect the March 2012 presidential election, in which Russia’s head of state will for the first time be elected for a six-year term, rather than four-year term.

Russia: Putin urges mandatory primaries for all parties | RIA Novosti

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin proposed on Tuesday legislative amendments to introduce primaries for all political parties.

“I would like to ask you to consider and discuss with your colleagues from other political parties ways of making such preliminary elections a legally binding norm,” Putin told a meeting of the All-Russia People’s Front (ARPF) coordinating council. He said the ruling United Russia party’s list for the December State Duma elections could feature over 150 “non-party candidates” representing the ARPF.

Russia: Russia’s Approaching Nonelection | NYTimes.com

Speculation is rife whether President Dmitri Medvedev or Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will end up running next year in Russia’s presidential election. The supposed rivalry between a youthful reformer and his conservative mentor makes for welcome intrigue in a country where competing political views have long gone missing from the public discourse.

Putin, Russia’s president from 2000 to 2008, handpicked Medvedev from his Kremlin entourage because of a constitutional ban on three consecutive presidential terms. Now Putin could legally return to the presidency two more times — conceivably holding office until 2024, since one of Medvedev’s first legislative initiatives was to extend presidential terms from four years to six.

The partners in the so-called ruling tandem have left open which one of them will run for president next March, reacting with a mixture of irritation and embarrassment when journalists confront them with “the 2012 question.