Putin, we Protest?

The recent Russian Duma elections have brought a rare sight to Russian streets: mass protests against Vladimir Putin and his system of managed democracy.

 The polls showed that United Russia had won with almost fifty percent of the vote--a far cry from their 2007 totals, amid allegations of voter fraud and ballot box stuffing. These mass protests seem to have caught everyone off guard because of their size and the youthful core of the protestors.

While no one is predicting a Putin collapse, these protests are a positive development for Russian democracy.

Putin has largely run a dominant party police state that has excluded opposition parties and restricted voter choice. No population is going to stay passive forever against such conditions. Still, most Russians continue to put up with the system of managed democracy and the need for a police state.

It was largely assumed before these mass protests that things were peachy under the Russian sun. These protests offer a flicker of hope for advocates of democracy within the Russian Federation, but don’t expect these protests to lead to anything other than a Putin crackdown because the majority of Russians stand firmly behind Putin.

United Russia: Communist Blueprint?

United Russia emerged about a decade ago to create a vehicle for then Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to become President, following the expiration of Boris Yeltsin’s two terms. It is in this “Support Vladimir Putin” framework that the party has existed. It brought Dmitry Medvedev into the presidency in 2008 and will undoubtedly do the same for Mr. Putin in 2012. The party has been criticized as a “trade union of bureaucrats”, “party of rouges and thieves” and Mikhail Gorbachev called it a “bad copy” of the Communist party that ruled Russia until 1991.

 http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2011/1004/Putin-s-United-Russia-Communist-Party-clone-or-modern-democratic-force.

Lets look at some of the realities created by United Russia since its’ founding.

If you mention United Russia to a person outside of the Russian Federation, you’ll get many quizzical expressions, mention Vladimir Putin and your on stronger footing. Vladimir Putin is the face of that party. Therefore, the party largely exists for Putin and advocates of his policy.

 They’ve always made sure to have 2/3 majority of Duma seats necessary to amend the constitution to allow for longer presidential term limits, higher electoral thresholds and spates full of new state regulation that have heavily curtailed free speech and electoral choice within the Russian Federation.

 7% electoral thresholds coupled with United Russia’s media dominance makes opposition virtually impossible.

Let’s see: Highly personalized leadership, state control over media, little meaningful electoral choice…United Russia sure sounds like a copy of the Soviet Communist party.