Posted on 12/04/2011 4:15:48 PM PST by bruinbirdman
Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia party appears to have lost the trust of millions of Russians after early results showed it had won less than fifty per cent of the vote in a parliamentary election on Sunday.
Russia’s central election commission last night said United Russia was leading the elections with 49.9 per cent of the vote with just under 70 per cent of precincts reporting.
Such a result, it would mean Mr Putin’s party has haemorrhaged support since it won almost 64 per cent in the last parliamentary election in 2007 and backs up anecdotal evidence that millions of Russians are beginning to tire of the regime’s dominance of political life.
Mr Putin said the initial results would ensure the country’s “stable development”. Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian preisdent, said the results reflect “the real set of moods in our country” and was an example of “democracy in action”.
The vote is unlikely to stop Mr Putin, who is currently prime minister, from returning to the presidency next year for a third time but it will cause unease in the Kremlin which has worked hard to prop up his personal ratings which remain above 50 per cent.
“His ratings have fallen,” admitted Yelena Orlova, a pensioner who voted for his party on Sunday. She said corruption scandals had damaged his party’s image but that he still remained the most capable politician.
“In the 1990s people were pretty much on the same level (when it came to living standards) but now any local official quickly acquires houses, flats and cars,” she told The Daily Telegraph. “People see this and they are not happy,”.
Sunday’s vote was also marred by allegations of “mass fraud.” The web site of Golos, the country’s only independent election watchdog, was knocked
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Vlad must be losing his touch. What happened to vote and vote for the party if you want to eat?
Something tells me it will not matter - Puttin will win
If Putin’s party lost, then which party won today.
I have read a couple of news reports and none seem to mention who the winners are.
Did the hard-core Commies win?
“...any local official quickly acquires houses, flats and cars,” she told The Daily Telegraph.”
Just like the good ol’ days, eh Pootie?
Except now of course, they probably get a Mercedes-Benz and a condo instead of a Zil and a dacha by the Black Sea.
I thought Vlad WAS the hard-core commie ?
Vlad is not a Commie, he’s more of a Fascist.
Vlad would much more be accurately described as the Organized Crime Party candidate.
Certainly Putin must have learned from Stalin: “It doesn’t matter who votes, what matters is who counts the votes.”
Ask George McGovern Tommy daschle Timmy Johnson.. all won on recounts . Timmy was a computer error recount
Considering the Communists only had 20% support and United Russia appears to be walking away with 50%, that leaves 30% of the vote up in the air. I doubt the loss of support for United Russia flipped to the Communists, so they might have gone to other parties.
Russia has a proportional representation election system so Putin will end up leading a minority or coalition government until presidential elections next March. The voters are not happy with the “party of power’s” record and all the polls to date reflected it. Whether United Russia’s leaders draw the appropriate lessons remains to be seen.
The Communists received 12% of the vote in 2007 and 20% in 2011. That’s quite an accomplishment and Gennady Zyuganov has studied the record of the only Communist Party to win a free election in the post-Soviet space, the Party Of Communists of Moldavia, now in opposition in that country. Its the only Russian political party with anything like a nationwide organization.
Two pro-Kremlin satellite parties gained seats so UR should be able to get its agenda easily passed with their support. Putin’s advantage is there is no real challenger in sight who can threaten his presidential run. If the economy sours, then of course it could all change quickly by then.
Hey!Maybe there’s hope that the majority of the Russian People do NOT want to see a return to communism under Putin or anybody else.
Putin’s authoritarian style grates on a people typically used to submissiveness but there is just so much they will put up with. Most Russians regard the government as venal and corrupt and there is the feeling things aren’t going to change and what happened today was a protest vote against the system... the only way Russians can express their dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs. Putin didn’t do a lot of the things he could have done and for Russians the status quo is no longer good enough.
Would it be going out on a limb to say that UR gets some of its support from so-called “liberals” who are afraid of the communists coming back into power?
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