&host=rt.com&uri=/politics/pace-europe-russia-elections-duma-869/&via=(none)&ua=CCBot/1.0 (+http://www.commoncrawl.org/bot.html))
‘Change is happening in Russia’
Published: 27 January, 2012, 17:53
Dutch politician Tiny Kox, who heads the PACE mission observing Russian parliamentary elections. (Image from rferl.org)
TAGS: Russia, Politics, Europe, USA, Robert Bridge
Russia and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) have held a debate on the condition of democracy in Russia, which is gearing up for a presidential election in March.
PACE members assembled on Thursday in Strasbourg, France to debate a report prepared by Andreas Gross, entitled “Russia between Two Elections,” which attempted to predict the political climate in Russia.
Gross, a Swiss Social Democrat, noted the extraordinary changes that are happening in Russia, which just experienced large civil demonstrations following parliamentary elections in December that swept United Russia back into power, albeit with fewer seats.
“Never since 1993 has the political situation in Russia been as open as it is today,” said Gross, the main speaker of the discussion. “Never since 1993 have so many people in Russian civil society been so active.”
This openness presents a structural opportunity for Russia between the Duma election and the presidential election of 4 March, Gross added.
President Dmitry Medvedev welcomed the display of civic participation in the political process as a natural “manifestation of democracy.”
Gross went on to voice some criticism, and while certain points seemed well founded, others seemed strained, especially in light of trends in other parts of the world.
For example, Gross expressed surprise that “only four people can challenge Putin” in the upcoming presidential elections, while alluding to one of the challengers, Mikhail Prokhorov, as “another right-wing oligarch and one of the richest people in Russia.”
Some may be wondering why Prokhorov's candidacy should be considered a problem.
In the United States, for example, where the Democratic and Republican parties enjoy something of a duopoly on power, the incumbent president is only seriously challenged by one other contender.
Meanwhile, it is certainly not unheard of for wealthy individuals to run for political office. Indeed, many times it is the only way for a third party challenger to appear on the political scene, as American businessman Ross Perot did when he financed his 1992 bid for the US presidency.
Valery Fedorov, deputy chairman of the Federation Council's committee for constitutional legislation, noted the numerous false reports and even outright lies concerning the Duma election.
“Claims that there were 10 million or 15 million complaints and that there had been infringements in one-third of polling stations are false,” Fedorov said. He then ridiculed an American news channel for using the wrong video footage while reporting on the Moscow protests, which were free of violence.
“Fox News reported on a protest which had taken place on 24 October, but the video footage that accompanied it showed street battles in Greece, which clearly showed palm trees in the background,” he said.
Palm trees do not grow in Moscow, Fedorov noted.
Another Russian attendee, Leonid Slutsky, member of the Duma lower house of parliament, said it was wrong that the Russian Federation continued to be criticized for holding unfair elections, when the opposition parties had in fact increased their share of the vote.
“It was wrong to say that United Russia dominated the political scene,” Slutsky argued. “In fact, that party had lost over 100 seats at the election and no longer held a constitutional majority. This was due entirely to the will of the people as expressed in the elections.”
Another participant of the debate, Tiny Kox, a Dutch member of the Socialist Party, recited a list of reforms Russia has endeavored to undertake since the Duma election.
“The President of the Russian Federation proposed to make registration of political parties far easier; the Prime Minister ordered the installation of webcams in all polling stations; the Central Election Commission ordered transparent ballot boxes everywhere.”
Kox also lauded Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's pledge that the elections would be
"fair and transparent."
Concluding his comments, Kox admitted change is possible in Russia: “Those who used to say that nothing ever changes in Russia have been proved wrong; change is happening in Russia.”
27.01, 16:51
3 comments
‘Russia’s economic woes down to political status quo’Problems in the Russian economy are rooted in the drawbacks of the political system, say First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov and Presidential Aide Arkady Dvorkovich, who are currently in Davos at the World Economic Forum. |
27.01, 18:17
7 comments
Election boss refutes violations as parliamentarians seek to cut his beardThe beard of Russia’s Central Election Commission head occupied an unusually large place in Duma discussions Friday, as Vladimir Churov spoke on alleged violations in December’s election. He had promised to shave, should Russia hold an unfair vote. Parliamentary Elections 2011 |
I'm just amazed at the core hypocrisy of this PACE event...Are similar events conducted to examine the state of democracy in the U.S. or the E.U.?
Brain Transplant wrote in#20
free_mind50 wrote in#19
Brain Transplant wrote in#15
free_mind50 wrote in#7
The hatred thrown against Russia in the western world is the same hatred used to
<<disenfranchise and create prejudice against other minorites>> throughout much of western history.
I was not insinuating communism as Russian culture, you falsely extrapolated that conclusion, with the intent of attacking, how coy of you.
That is like saying neo-libarlism is American culture when the country was born in slavery.
I do know much about Russian culture, the question is do you?
That statement you made above: "disenfranchise and create prejudice against other minorites" is a left-wing radical point of view.
You speak of US history like you arrived on a slave ship? Are you a 'Black Russian'???
No I did not arrive on a slave ship (which was your red herring fallacy-no less meant to distract from the original point).
The disenfranchisement and created prejudice against minorities is a known historical fact perpetuated not just by those calling themselves leftist but by rightest also. Also not just against minorities but also against those who are of a disposition not in accordance with the prescribed norms of the would be ruling elites. I never made the claim that it was left wing ideology, you did, which was no less meant to devolve the conversation into a left vs right argument.
When you are no longer caught in the dichotomy of left vs right, you transcend that which is superficial. The people who nefariously manipulate things only have one political persuasion and that is the label of money.
You don't get to transcend anything. You are in an inferior political position, white boy. The minorities get away with everything and discriminate against you, and you get nothing and cannot even complain about it. The extra jail time for hate crimes only applies to white boys like you.