Opposition wants answers from president
Published: 24 October, 2009, 15:18
Edited: 25 October, 2009, 11:56
Russia's opposition leaders shouldn't view their failure to win recent local elections as being a funeral for democracy, President Medvedev said during meetings with opposition representatives from Russia’s parliament.
Looks like everyone has learned the latest in election manipulation technology. All loosing candidates have to do is claim irregularities, keep on doing it, until they force someone to talk about it. Then once the conversation has started, that becomes a PROOF that something indeed was wrong! It matters nothing that these are candidates that stood no chance of winning, not by a long shot. But the objective is to undermine the legal process and question the elected majority's credibibility. We saw how it worked in Iran. With candidates that had no chance of coming even close to the frontrunner, their supporters fillled the street. It looked like there was a nation-wide unrest, while the whole thing was a storm in a teapot. The trouble with such design is that sooner or later it attracts real troublemakers, who would trash the city for fun and profit. And then the law enforcement is faced with having to figure out the difference betweeen the looters and criminals and just democracy-loving protesters. In Afghanistan, similar story. The man who absolutely could not have won, Abudullah Abdullah, became the agreaved contender. With a straight face he complained of the irregularities. With his base among Tajik minority, it was a joke from the beginning. But not a joke to the occupiers. They needed to insure that Karzai does not win on his own, and with the alliance of tribes that would support him. That would have ended the divide et impera games in Hindu Kush. Now, with a "commission" to declare large irregularities, and whose main members were US and Canadian citizens, Karzai is forced to go into run off. And even if the occupation forces bribe half of the Pashtun "taliban" from the South, the challenger cannot win. But the objective is to limit Karzai's power, and to force him to accept "coalition", meaning occupiers' trusted hands. Communists have learned nothing. They will damage whatever is left of their reputation.










It would be instructive to know what the rate of the irregularities was relative to the typical elections of other nations. Since the recent Russian elections were not at all close, the irregularities in them were not particularly important, but nevertheless they should be dispensed with to the extent feasible. This is in part a matter of national dignity I would think; just look at what disreputable elections have done to Iran and Afghanistan. Even though its obvious these Russian elections weren't close, it is good to see their flaws being taken seriously; if for no other reason than that this should give the opposition more faith in the system as they see their complaints being properly processed. If they trust the institutions involved, they will be less prone to try to work around them rather than through them; and the former course is one Russia seems to have particular disdain for.