In the December elections for the lower house of the national parliament, President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party took 49 percent of the vote. Public anger over suspicions that election rigging propelled the party to victory shook the country with unprecedented anti-Kremlin and antigovernment protests against election manipulation and against Putin that brought tens of thousands, as many as up to 100,000 protestors, into the streets of Moscow at their height, the biggest opposition protests of Putin’s nearly thirteen years in power. After the first big protest, Putin’s successor, then-President Dmitri A. Medvedev, as one of his parting moves as President shortly before leaving office to become Prime Minister this May, signed a law reviving the practice of direct elections for regional governors, which Putin had banned in favor of appointees in 2004, after more than 330 people including 186 children were killed when Chechen militants occupied the Beslan school in the North Caucasus region of North Ossetia, calling it a necessary measure to prevent separatism and crime. [9]
Putin was elected president for a third time in March, after a campaign of targeted television coverage meant to discredit the opposition, and returned to the presidency in May amid protests against the longtime leader’s continuing rule. [8]
Ten months after United Russia’s dismal setback in the parliamentary elections, Putin’s allies won powerful regional governorships in five; Amur, Bryansk, Novogrod, Belgorod, and Ryazan; of Russia’s 83 provinces in its first gubernatorial elections in eight years. [9] United Russia also dominated majorities in most of the nearly 5,000, more than 4,500, contests for six regional parliaments and various city councils and mayor’s offices held in most, 77, of 83 regions, with the exception of Moscow and Saint Petersburg and a few other big cities among the few not to vote. [12]
Many opposition leaders protested the Kremlin winnowing the contenders in gubernatorial elections through introducing a so-called “municipal filter” system, a law that required would-be gubernatorial hopefuls to garner signatures for their bid from 10 percent of municipal lawmakers of local legislatures in the region to get on the ballot, to impose strict screening of candidates. With most regional parliaments controlled by United Russia, and most local legislators Kremlin supporters, heeding Kremlin orders, the requirements ensured Putin an outlet for control and made it difficult for most opposition candidates to enter races. Putin Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov told Bloomberg: “Maybe we acted too harshly with the filters but in my opinion filters are needed. I can’t quite understand how we can allow 120 to 150 candidates to compete in gubernatorial elections.” [7]
Earlier this year, in response to the major protests against Putin’s rule last winter, the Kremlin sought to quell public anger by simplifying registration rules for political parties, easing restrictions that had made it very hard for political parties to officially register and contest elections. The change meant the ballot saw dozens of new parties running. Only a few of them were genuine opposition while most others were loyal to the government or were created as spoilers to steal votes from Kremlin critics. “United Russia’s success was determined from the beginning by the character of the election itself. At the level of local legislative elections, spoilers and decoy candidates were used to drain some of the votes.” Said Moscow Center for Political Technology head Igor Bunin. [4]
Medvedev said: “As far as I know, nobody found any serious irregularities” and “no significant violations have yet been spotted.” “The Kremlin lost a chance to show a willingness to allow for soft democratization. We see almost as many violations and as much administrative pressure during the election campaign as before.” Said the deputy head of Russia’s Golos vote monitor, a non-profit independent vote-monitoring election watchdog organization which came under ferocious fire from the authorities for its role in exposing massive electoral fraud in last December’s Duma elections, Grigory Melkoyants. Golos head of election monitoring Andrei Y. Buzin said: “I think we are registering more violations this time because we have a much better qualified corps of observers that we are fielding, and they are highly motivated to watch for anything out of place. This is a big improvement.” The Moscow Center for Political Technologies’ Aleksei V. Makarkin said: “The types of violations which people used to accept calmly, and accepted as something unavoidable—people are now taking them much more seriously.” [8]
Opponents also accuse the Kremlin of using its position to make back-room deals to replace or reappoint the governors of 20 of Russia’s 83 provinces in the months before the legislative reforms entered into effect, so that they would not have to face voters and to force strong contenders to drop out, removing potential competitors from races. [3]
Prime Minister Medvedev, who took over chairmanship of United Russia from Putin a year ago, declared victory for the party and congratulated party members in Moscow, saying United Russia had garnered “good results”: “I’ll say it straight. United Russia did well, better than in the December state Duma elections. Everyone expected a party fiasco after December’s election. Supposedly there was downward trend, and everything was going to collapse under us. But nothing of the kind happened—under completely different circumstances, this was the result.” Medvedev said heightened competition had improved the party’s performance, but went on to caution party officials against letting the results make them overly confident: “Work hard, and do all that we have promised.” [6]
Moscow Independent Center for Political Information director Alexei Mukhin said: “This was more of a defeat for the opposition than a victory for United Russia. The opposition needs to learn a lot of lessons, and the authorities would make a big mistake if they become complacent. The opposition needs to recruit more capable managers, and learn to use more normal, practical political slogans. It was no great victory for United Russia, the system worked for them just as it was designed to. But it was a telling defeat for the opposition—and one they should learn from.” “The low turnout is a very important indicator that no one really won these elections. People clearly have little interest in supporting the government, but they’re not enthused by the opposition either. Actually, a lot of recent opinion polls show a curious paradox unfolding: Support for the authorities is falling, but support for the opposition is falling faster. That’s why we this odd result, that seems to show a big victory for United Russia, but standing upon a very narrow base of the population.” Said director of the independent Moscow Institute of Globalization and Social Movements Boris Kagarlitsky. [5]
Ten months after United Russia’s dismal setback in the parliamentary elections, Putin’s allies won powerful regional governorships in five; Amur, Bryansk, Novogrod, Belgorod, and Ryazan; of Russia’s 83 provinces in its first gubernatorial elections in eight years. [9] United Russia also dominated majorities in most of the nearly 5,000, more than 4,500, contests for six regional parliaments and various city councils and mayor’s offices held in most, 77, of 83 regions, with the exception of Moscow and Saint Petersburg and a few other big cities among the few not to vote. [12]
Many opposition leaders protested the Kremlin winnowing the contenders in gubernatorial elections through introducing a so-called “municipal filter” system, a law that required would-be gubernatorial hopefuls to garner signatures for their bid from 10 percent of municipal lawmakers of local legislatures in the region to get on the ballot, to impose strict screening of candidates. With most regional parliaments controlled by United Russia, and most local legislators Kremlin supporters, heeding Kremlin orders, the requirements ensured Putin an outlet for control and made it difficult for most opposition candidates to enter races. Putin Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov told Bloomberg: “Maybe we acted too harshly with the filters but in my opinion filters are needed. I can’t quite understand how we can allow 120 to 150 candidates to compete in gubernatorial elections.” [7]
Earlier this year, in response to the major protests against Putin’s rule last winter, the Kremlin sought to quell public anger by simplifying registration rules for political parties, easing restrictions that had made it very hard for political parties to officially register and contest elections. The change meant the ballot saw dozens of new parties running. Only a few of them were genuine opposition while most others were loyal to the government or were created as spoilers to steal votes from Kremlin critics. “United Russia’s success was determined from the beginning by the character of the election itself. At the level of local legislative elections, spoilers and decoy candidates were used to drain some of the votes.” Said Moscow Center for Political Technology head Igor Bunin. [4]
Medvedev said: “As far as I know, nobody found any serious irregularities” and “no significant violations have yet been spotted.” “The Kremlin lost a chance to show a willingness to allow for soft democratization. We see almost as many violations and as much administrative pressure during the election campaign as before.” Said the deputy head of Russia’s Golos vote monitor, a non-profit independent vote-monitoring election watchdog organization which came under ferocious fire from the authorities for its role in exposing massive electoral fraud in last December’s Duma elections, Grigory Melkoyants. Golos head of election monitoring Andrei Y. Buzin said: “I think we are registering more violations this time because we have a much better qualified corps of observers that we are fielding, and they are highly motivated to watch for anything out of place. This is a big improvement.” The Moscow Center for Political Technologies’ Aleksei V. Makarkin said: “The types of violations which people used to accept calmly, and accepted as something unavoidable—people are now taking them much more seriously.” [8]
Opponents also accuse the Kremlin of using its position to make back-room deals to replace or reappoint the governors of 20 of Russia’s 83 provinces in the months before the legislative reforms entered into effect, so that they would not have to face voters and to force strong contenders to drop out, removing potential competitors from races. [3]
Prime Minister Medvedev, who took over chairmanship of United Russia from Putin a year ago, declared victory for the party and congratulated party members in Moscow, saying United Russia had garnered “good results”: “I’ll say it straight. United Russia did well, better than in the December state Duma elections. Everyone expected a party fiasco after December’s election. Supposedly there was downward trend, and everything was going to collapse under us. But nothing of the kind happened—under completely different circumstances, this was the result.” Medvedev said heightened competition had improved the party’s performance, but went on to caution party officials against letting the results make them overly confident: “Work hard, and do all that we have promised.” [6]
Moscow Independent Center for Political Information director Alexei Mukhin said: “This was more of a defeat for the opposition than a victory for United Russia. The opposition needs to learn a lot of lessons, and the authorities would make a big mistake if they become complacent. The opposition needs to recruit more capable managers, and learn to use more normal, practical political slogans. It was no great victory for United Russia, the system worked for them just as it was designed to. But it was a telling defeat for the opposition—and one they should learn from.” “The low turnout is a very important indicator that no one really won these elections. People clearly have little interest in supporting the government, but they’re not enthused by the opposition either. Actually, a lot of recent opinion polls show a curious paradox unfolding: Support for the authorities is falling, but support for the opposition is falling faster. That’s why we this odd result, that seems to show a big victory for United Russia, but standing upon a very narrow base of the population.” Said director of the independent Moscow Institute of Globalization and Social Movements Boris Kagarlitsky. [5]
- Arkhipov, Ilya. “Putin Loyalists Assert Control In Russian Regional Elections.” Bloomberg. October 15, 2012.http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-14/russia-votes-in-putin-s-first-election-test-since-kremlin-return.html
- Baczynska, Gabriela. “Russia Local Elections Seen Extending Putin’s Power in Regions.” Reuters. Friday, October 12, 2012. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/12/russia-elections-idUSL6E8LB1JG20121012
- Baczynska, G. & Gutterman, S. “Russian Elections Underscore Problems Faced By Putin Foes.” Reuters. Monday, October 15, 2012.http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/15/russia-elections-opposition-idUSL5E8LF7UC20121015?type=marketsNews
- Baczynska, G. & Tsvetkova, M. “Russian Local Elections Test Putin’s Grip.” Reuters. Sunday, October 14, 2012.http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/14/russia-elections-idUSL5E8LE0HS20121014
- Barry, E. & Roth, A. “Ruling Party Shows Strength Amid Low Turnout in Russian Vote.” The New York Times. October 14, 2012.http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/world/europe/russia-elections.html?_r=0
- Elder, Miriam. “Vladimir Putin Hails Russian Local Election Victory.” The Guardian. Monday, October 15, 2012.http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/15/vladimir-putin-hails-russia-election
- Lally, Kathy. “Russian Opposition Weak At Polls.” The Washington Post. October 14.http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russian-opposition-weak-at-polls/2012/10/14/60f7f9a8-1638-11e2-9855-71f2b202721b_story.html
- Malpas, Anna. “Reported Violations Mar Russia’s First Polls Since Putin’s Return.” Agence France-Presse. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h0Z_ECDuAoSSL6cEJLYZkQ_fneqA?docId=CNG.ea900d58bb25acbb22b1563afa808e4f.7c1
- Ralph, Talia. “Russia Votes In First Gubernatorial Elections in 8 Years.” GlobalPost. October 14, 2012.http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/russia/121014/russia-votes-first-gubernatorial-elections
- Seddon, Max. “Russia Local Elections: Putin Loyalists Likely To Win Local Votes.” The Associated Press. October 14, 2012. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/14/russia-local-elections-putin-loyalists_n_1965435.html
- Seddon, Max. “Putin Loyalists Win Russian Local Elections.” The Associated Press. October 15, 2012. http://news.yahoo.com/putin-loyalists-win-russian-local-elections-154954589.html
- Weir, Fred. “Putin’s United Russia Dominates Regional Elections.” The Christian Science Monitor. Monday, October 15, 2012http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2012/1015/Putin-s-United-Russia-dominates-regional-elections
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