Moscow City Duma "election" 2019.
Aug 11, 2019 18:47:20 GMT
No Offence Alan, Devil Wincarnate, and 1 more like this
Post by Forfarshire Conservative on Aug 11, 2019 18:47:20 GMT
Normally I wouldn't cover a regional election in Russia like this on the forum because, bluntly, they're all rigged. However, there's been some interesting developments over the last few weeks that may have been missed by those who don't follow Russia.
The non systemic opposition in Russia, "systemic" as all main opposition parties in Russia -LDPR, AJR, CPRF - are controlled by the Kremlin, have not been allowed to run in the Moscow Duma elections. This is because the Putin controlled electoral authorities have said that some of their signatures weren't valid. This is, of course, bullshit. The real reason is that since 2013 when Navalny almost forced a second round for the Moscow mayoralty, it is an open secret that Putin has ordered the authorities to ensure that there is no serious opposition within the capital. It has become even more of a necessity for him to do this as since 2013 it has become obvious that Putin has lost the support of the major cities, the middle classes and the young. Therefore, in a free election, the non systemic opposition would most likely triumph in a city like Moscow even with the ballot stuffing and multiple voting.
The reaction to this has been outrage. There have been, by Russian standards, huge protests against the decision in Moscow and smaller scale one's across Russian cities like St. Petersburg and Vladivostok. In Moscow, these unauthorized demos have been met with violence which has engaged even more people. The reaction has also shocked many normal Russians who stay away from politics. Particularly, two incidents. One is a couple who have been forced to hand their baby over to a neutral carer and who now face losing their child for going on this demonstration. The second one is the photograph of a young girl who sat in front of riot police in full gear and read out the Russian constitution which guarantees free speech and free assembly.
Yesterday, there was a big protest of approximately 50,000 people demanding free elections but also Putin's resignation, the dismantling of censorship, an independent electoral commission and the unblocking of Telegram. This is significant because over the last two years there has been a season of protest, particularly against pension changes that Putin had pledged to oppose but signed anyway. Significantly, he partially retreated on those. Finally, this all gels with the fact that non systemic candidates have won in municipal elections recently, which aren't as heavily rigged, and this points to a wider malaise in Russia and the continued shrinking of Putin's real popularity.
Where all this goes is anyone's guess. It's clear that Putin will successfully retain control over Moscow but its also clear that Russians are pissed. There's a debate going on within the Putin circle with Siloviki (security forces guys) pushing for the abandonment of even the fake democracy and the adoption of the Chinese model. Whereas, moderates are pushing for the easing of rigging at the local level to act as a pressure valve, though when this happened in the USSR the Communists got their arses kicked and the end of Communist rule became inevitable. Putin recalls this and would do everything to avoid this, so this suggests a hardening will occur after these protests.
I'll update this thread with anymore information on the elections and the political conflict they have caused.
The non systemic opposition in Russia, "systemic" as all main opposition parties in Russia -LDPR, AJR, CPRF - are controlled by the Kremlin, have not been allowed to run in the Moscow Duma elections. This is because the Putin controlled electoral authorities have said that some of their signatures weren't valid. This is, of course, bullshit. The real reason is that since 2013 when Navalny almost forced a second round for the Moscow mayoralty, it is an open secret that Putin has ordered the authorities to ensure that there is no serious opposition within the capital. It has become even more of a necessity for him to do this as since 2013 it has become obvious that Putin has lost the support of the major cities, the middle classes and the young. Therefore, in a free election, the non systemic opposition would most likely triumph in a city like Moscow even with the ballot stuffing and multiple voting.
The reaction to this has been outrage. There have been, by Russian standards, huge protests against the decision in Moscow and smaller scale one's across Russian cities like St. Petersburg and Vladivostok. In Moscow, these unauthorized demos have been met with violence which has engaged even more people. The reaction has also shocked many normal Russians who stay away from politics. Particularly, two incidents. One is a couple who have been forced to hand their baby over to a neutral carer and who now face losing their child for going on this demonstration. The second one is the photograph of a young girl who sat in front of riot police in full gear and read out the Russian constitution which guarantees free speech and free assembly.
Yesterday, there was a big protest of approximately 50,000 people demanding free elections but also Putin's resignation, the dismantling of censorship, an independent electoral commission and the unblocking of Telegram. This is significant because over the last two years there has been a season of protest, particularly against pension changes that Putin had pledged to oppose but signed anyway. Significantly, he partially retreated on those. Finally, this all gels with the fact that non systemic candidates have won in municipal elections recently, which aren't as heavily rigged, and this points to a wider malaise in Russia and the continued shrinking of Putin's real popularity.
Where all this goes is anyone's guess. It's clear that Putin will successfully retain control over Moscow but its also clear that Russians are pissed. There's a debate going on within the Putin circle with Siloviki (security forces guys) pushing for the abandonment of even the fake democracy and the adoption of the Chinese model. Whereas, moderates are pushing for the easing of rigging at the local level to act as a pressure valve, though when this happened in the USSR the Communists got their arses kicked and the end of Communist rule became inevitable. Putin recalls this and would do everything to avoid this, so this suggests a hardening will occur after these protests.
I'll update this thread with anymore information on the elections and the political conflict they have caused.
