Election Review: Putin's Control of Russia

There are some recent elections on the international scene that I would like to review and the first one I would like to discuss is the parliamentary elections held in Russia on December 2, 2007. Well, to say it was a free and fair election is far from the truth. The truth is that President Vladimir V. Putin has complete political control over his country. His party, United Russia, won the election with an overwhelming 64% of the vote, giving it about 315 seats in the 450-seat Duma (the lower house of the Russian parliament).

But all accounts by international observers say the election results were rigged, with ballot boxes being stuffed, people voting multiple times, the threat of blackmail hanging over people's heads, the use of bribes to pump up voter turnout, and other corrupt measures which were designed to ensure a crushing victory for Putin's party. This is just one of many authoritarian acts undertaken by Putin, for he has also taken control of the media by silencing voices of opposition, and he has taken control of the appointment of regional governors, ensuring that all political power resides in the Kremlin. I wonder what Boris Yeltsin would make of all this. Is this what he envisioned when he appointed the then unknown Putin to be his successor in 1999?

The funny part is Putin had high approval ratings and so he probably would have won the election anyway. But as one commentator in a CNN Special on Russia said, Putin is a "Control Freak" and so he is unwilling to take any chances, not even with his own people who at the moment adore him. True, the country is doing well economically but I think much of that can be attributed to Russia's vast oil reserves. Once oil prices start declining and the economy slows down, what will the people of Russia think of Putin then?

But in the long-term, it appears that Putin's authoritarian rule is here to stay. Due to the nation's constitution, Putin is not allowed to serve a third consecutive term in office so at least he respected this rule by endorsing deputy prime minister Dmitry Medvedev to run as his successor in Russia's presidential election this coming March. But come on, I think we all know that if elected, or perhaps I should say when elected, Medvedev will be nothing more than a puppet president. The following fact says it all. Medvedev asked Putin to serve as prime minister once he is elected, and of course Putin said yes (I would bet a hundred dollars that it was actually an order given by Putin rather than this phony request portrayed in the news).

I suppose this means that the office of prime minister will become more powerful than the presidency once Medvedev is elected, or Medvedev might step down in a few months time to pave the way for another Putin presidency, which would be legal under the country's constitution. So let's all brace ourselves for what looks to be several more years of Putin's control of Russia.