Russians for Stability: Regional Polls in Russia

                    -Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

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Going by the poll trends in new post-communist Russia for years now, one can safely conclude that most Russians are proud of their “Russian” identity as a former super power and consider Russia's stability as the most important agenda of Russia, in preference to any other aspect of the society. Neither economic inequalities nor rising prices worry them much and all that they seek is a strong Russia. On the eve of the visit of US state secretary Hillary Clinton to Moscow and on the sidelines of signing of huge trade agreements with China, Russia went to regional polls on October 10 to elect provincial and local bodies including Moscow City Council. Mayoral, regional and district council votes were held across Russia, with some 30 million people out of a 142 million population were eligible to cast their ballots.

Amid complaints of malpractices, the regional, mayoral, and district council votes were held across Russia on 10 October, with some 30 million people eligible to vote. As the results came in on 11 October, all powerful Putin’s ruling United Russia claimed victory after victory, winning nearly every poll everywhere by a wide margin. Votes were held in almost all regions, including freedom nations within Russian Federation, Chechnya and Ingushetia.  In the vote for the crucial Moscow City Council which controls the city's $40-billion budget, the United Russia won 66% and the Communists 13%. These figures were expected to give the ruling party all but three of the 35 seats in the Moscow parliament, strengthening the hand of Moscow's powerful mayor, Yuri Luzhkov. The opposition liberal Yabloko party failed to win 5%, losing its place on the council.

Russia's opposition parties have alleged that local elections across the country were marred by fraud to suit the ruing dispensations, slamming it as a "return to shady technologies of the 1990s".   They say they were refused registration to take part and were denied media access. Opposition activists in Russia were up in arms as tens of millions of Russians prepare to go to the polls across the country in local elections this weekend. Opposition groups have been particularly angry in the capital Moscow, openly accusing authorities of rigging the election for the city assembly to ensure the ruling party maintains its tight grip on power. Vladimir Churov, chairman of Russia's Central Election Commission, praised the electoral process. "The elections were recognized as valid and were well organized, with a quite high turnout," he told Itar-Tass. One opposition candidate - former minister Vladimir Milov - dismissed this as nonsense, accusing the authorities of fixing the election before people even had a chance to vote. "There were multiple violations during the process of verifying my signatures and these were severe violations of the Moscow city electoral laws," said Milov. The commission said the application forms of opposition candidates had mistakes or the signatures needed to support the applications had been faked.

In addition to the regional votes, there are 3,600 separate elections taking place across the country for the mayors of some major towns and the bulk of the town and village councils. Turnout for over 3,000 elections held on Sunday, was 55.7 percent, up slightly on the last comparable vote. The results, echoed across the country, wiped out opposition hopes that it could capitalize on the serious economic crisis in Russia, amid sharp negative growth and rising unemployment. Instead, that inspired loyalty to United Russia. However, concerns over the polling led to one opposition leader, former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, calling on voters to boycott the elections or spoil their ballots.

                                             II

The Kremlin is keen to showcase its sway over the voters and the Moscow city government chose to ban 100% of the independent candidates to secure the desired outcome of the election results. "These elections are illegitimate. They're nothing but a farce," he told the Associated Press. Nemtsov was refused permission to stand in Moscow's city council election with election officials alleging the 5,000 signatures his party collected were forged. Another opposition party, Yabloko, also alleged irregularities in Moscow, saying voters had contacted party officials to say they tried to vote but found votes already cast in their names. Party observers also noticed large numbers of voters at a polling station who did not live in that voting area.

Earlier, opposition politician Boris Nemtsov had described local polls as "fraud, farce, 100%", suggesting Muscovites might boycott the election. In the run-up to the elections, a small group of protesters took to the streets of Moscow, calling for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Yuri Luzhkov, the Mayor of Moscow, to be removed from office. They were venting their frustration after the election commission blocked all serious opponents of the government from running as independent candidates in Sunday's crucial vote for the Moscow assembly.

The Communist party's electoral headquarters chief, Ivan Melnikov, said "We noted illegal campaigning, attempts to pressure voters, and the results are determined not by appealing to the voter, but by throwing in ballots through the early voting mechanisms." Other opposition parties, Just Russia and LDPR, have also voiced their intention to join the Communists in registering their protests.

Many Muscovites said the election had already been decided. "This is a show, not an election," a young Russia quipped. "My vote will not count anyway." A voter said she was pessimistic about the poll. Election observers say what is happening in the capital is particularly worrying because methods used for elections in Moscow - if successful - are then copied across the country. All this goes against Moscow’s emerging democratic foundations and politics seems to be a game for Moscow bosses in the face of President Dmitry Medvedev's recent promise to renew the country's political system and develop Russia in a democratic way.

The party restriction move of the Kremlin had left just the so-called official opposition parties such as the communists in the race. Critics say these outfits with Soviet background are only tolerated because they do not pose any real threat to the government. Nikolai Gubenko, a communist member of the Moscow assembly, said even his party was facing unprecedented pressure from the authorities in this election. Never before have had the authorities gone this far in trying to make campaigning difficult for the opposition - any opposition, regardless of party affiliations. Parties were having enormous difficulties meeting people, holding campaign events, even putting up paid advertising posters. Certainly, on the streets of the capital, all over there were posters and activists for the ruling party, United Russia, and for a couple of other Kremlin-friendly parties.

Russia is keen to bolster its economy, which President Dmitry Medvedev has said will decline by 7.5% in 2009 - far worse than earlier predicted. SCO and improved relations with China have bolstered the government’s image in the society. Yesterday Moscow has signed deals worth $5.5bn (£3.5bn) with China as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visits Beijing. Trade between Russia and China has risen from less than $10bn to more than $50bn annually over the past six years. Moscow is hoping to sign deals worth $5.5bn (£3.5bn) with China as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visits Beijing. About 30 contracts in infrastructure, energy, mining, transportation and telecoms have been lined up. The deals may lead to Russia selling more oil and gas to China - the world's second-biggest energy user. However, Moscow is also keen to boost exports of machinery, especially aviation equipment and nuclear power plants - though analysts say that China's appetite for Russian goods other than energy and raw materials is limited. Earlier this year, Moscow signed a $25bn agreement to help fund a pipeline to supply oil from Siberia to China. In exchange, China was guaranteed a 20-year supply of crude oil.

Many feel everything in "strong" Russia is decided in advance. An upgraded economy and military equipment should have given more freedoms to people of Russia. Medvedev has promised to break the near-monopoly of ruling party United Russia over the political system. "New democratic times are beginning," he said in August. Critics say democracy was undermined by his predecessor Vladimir Putin, now prime minister, and the opposition says the situation has deteriorated since Medvedev came to power in May 2008. Medvedev says we need competition, we need a multi-party system, but election results show the exact opposite. Six parties are registered for Sunday's Moscow vote, but the only posters in the city are for United Russia. "Political competition is practically zero," said Liliya Shibanova, head of independent poll watchdog Golos. Golos said it had reports that Moscow authorities were pressuring workers to vote to boost the turn-out.

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The poll, already condemned for manipulation by opposition parties, marks the Kremlin’s first electoral test since the economic crisis hit Russia last year. Millions of Russians have lost their jobs and the rouble has slumped against the dollar in the crisis, ending a 10-year boom which underpinned support for president Dmitry Medvedev and his powerful prime minister, Vladimir Putin. Neither Putin nor Medvedev are directly involved in the polls and the country’s major city St Petersburg, did not vote. The opposition Communist party came in a distant second place. The pro-Kremlin Liberal Democrats and Fair Russia were also set to win seats in assemblies, though it was not immediately clear who came in third place, though that does not make any difference to Kremlin.

The party which wins the regional elections may present its candidate for the post of the region's governor, which is appointed by the president. The Kremlin created United Russia during Putin’s 2000-2008 term as president as its main political machine. It already dominates the national parliament and media.  Moscow authorities are not ready to live under new standards. The genuine Russian opposition has already been decimated or eliminated. Russia still follows the old style totalitarianism with some modification to keep the western critics at bay, for, they mock at the western terror instincts and democratic norms being based on money and media power. Obviously due to a political order from the top Russian and Moscow authorities, all of the independent candidates were banned from the elections.

Today the Russians consider freedoms in Russia greater than those allowed under Tsar and Soviet regime. The voters and people of Russia, in a situation when world is fighting the global economic crisis, struggling to stabilize the political situation, Russians have been (made) to support the rulers however ruthless they might be and be with the party of power. The genuine opposition, as a result, has already been eliminated. However, currently bulk of trade is in US dollars and only about 1% of their dealings involve Russian roubles or Chinese Yuan. Moscow and Beijing seek to expand the amount of business they do in their own currencies, rather than the US dollar. The heart of the relationship is Beijing's thirst for Russian energy - oil and gas make up more than half of Russian exports to China.

So, not many Russians have switched over to the democratic cry platforms as yet. Russian authorities are keen to retain the ruling party’s control in provincial polls. Mayoral, regional and district elections are being held in 76 of Russia's 83 regions, but the opposition has been particularly scathing of elections to the Moscow council. President Dmitry Medvedev faced a test of his pledge to boost Russian democracy on 11 October when polls opened for 30 million voters in regional elections the opposition say have been rigged. Majority of Russians still consider stability the top agenda of the regime. At a polling station in southwest Moscow, pro-Kremlin United Russia enjoyed the support of many elderly voters, some of whom took advantage of a subsidized buffet. Political competition has shrunk further in the past year." The playing field is uneven Medvedev's administration blamed local officials for the problems in Moscow, saying it had failed to convince Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, a prominent member of the ruling party, to liberalize elections.

The recent regional vote was the first test of the government's popularity since the economic crisis hit the country hard a year ago. Russian phenomenon of "greatness" is considered remarkable by the Moscow regime because that Russianness is essential for containing Chechens and other Muslim nations struggling for re-independence from the Kremlin.  Chechnya and other freedom nations still struggle to achieve their sovereignty- now primarily through peaceful means. Since Russians still consider the Russian greatness as their first priority, the Kremlin concentrates on strengthening their hold on to the apparatus.  Russians have remained connected to one-Party system mindset of Soviet Russia. Democracy and poll are farce and fake everywhere with some varying degrees of fairness. Both Putin and Medvedev promote Russian power by allowing people limited freedoms to the extend of absolute necessity. Aspiring Russians, common people in new Russia, still relish the baggage of "Russian greatness" and seek to see Russia to be feared by the West and the rest.

As one of fastest growing economy with second largest military power of the world, Russia is aiming at reemerging as the superpower of globe all over again. Supported by increasing trade in oil, gas, raw materials and weapons & technology to the third world, Russia considers fake democracy can ruin the people and demolish the ambitions of new Russia to outwit the American strategists. However, human rights evasions in Chechnya haunt the rulers in Moscow, both central and regional.   

Totalitarianism or authoritarianism is not a purely Russian or Chinese problem, but it has assumed global range, cutting across all forms of governance- communist, communalist, autocratic, capitalist, imperialist, etc. USA claims to be democratic, but is totalitarian by character and an authoritarian terror state in Islamic nations now under its occupation. GST rogue states, now terror-occupying Islamic nations, do not talk about human rights violations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan where the NATO terrorists kill Muslims and drink their blood with enormous enthusiasm. This negatively influences countries like Russia and China, treating the western criticism of HR violations in both these nation as a mere routine rhetoric to fool the world.

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Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

Specialist on State Terrorism

Independent Columinst in International Affairs, Research Scholar (JNU) & the only Indian to have gone through entire India, a fraud and terror nation in South Asia.