2012 Russian Federation Presidential Elections

2012 Russian Federation Presidential Elections



This thread is about news, articles, analyses and discussion about the Presidential Elections of the Russian Federation for 2012.

Czar Putin will win hands down. He can continue on shielding Assad...

27 February 2012 Last updated at 19:41 ET | BBC News

Q&A: Russia's presidential election


The winning candidate must receive more than 50% of the vote

Not since the 1990s has a Russian presidential election attracted as much interest and intrigue as the vote taking place this Sunday.

The run-up to the election has been marked by opposition protests and a surge of opposition activism sparked by Vladimir Putin's return to stand for a third term after four years as prime minister, as well as allegations of electoral fraud in last December's parliamentary elections.

How does the election work?

The winning candidate must receive more than 50% of the vote. If there is no outright victor, the two leading candidates go through to a run-off.

Who is standing?

Apart from Mr Putin, four other candidates are standing: Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the leader of the Just Russia party, Sergei Mironov, and millionaire businessman Mikhail Prokhorov.

Despite suggestions that his popularity may be waning, recent opinion polls give Mr Putin a solid lead with around 50% of vote. Nevertheless, this is some way off the 71% he won in his last presidential election in 2004.

Of the other candidates, only Mr Zyuganov and Mr Zhirinovsky have shown signs of even coming close to double percentage figures, and none of the candidates is seen as representing the street protest movement against Mr Putin.

What is at stake?

While Mr Putin is still expected to win with relative ease, the vote is seen as a referendum on his 12 years of nearly unchallenged domination of Russian politics.

After two four-year terms as president, he ceded the office to close ally Dmitry Medvedev in 2006 and became prime minister, but is widely thought to have retained overall control.

News in 2011 that he would be standing for a third term was received with dissatisfaction among some Russians, especially the new urban middle class increasingly chafing at widespread corruption.

The anger boiled over following allegations of widespread vote-rigging in parliamentary elections in December, with Moscow witnessing opposition protests not seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Mr Putin has fought back, presenting himself as the man who saved Russia from the instability of the 1990s and restored it to the status of global power, able to resist what he frequently depicts as the West's plans for hegemony.

How will the opposition protests affect this election?

While the protest movement may have only slightly dented Putin's standing with most Russians, they have galvanised efforts by civil society groups and anti-Putin campaigners to scrutinise the conduct of the election.

Two main independent monitoring groups have sprung up with the aim of recruiting volunteer monitors - the League of Voters, which was founded in January by a group of public figures who played a prominent part in the December protests, and Rosvybory, which is run by blogger and anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny.

Both groups are cooperating with older organisations that monitored December's parliamentary election, including Golos ("Vote" or "Voice"), Russia's oldest independent election monitoring group. The methods being used to attract volunteers include glossy YouTube videos, and even a smartphone app.

What has been the authorities' response?

The main response has been an order by Mr Putin for cameras to be installed at all of Russia's 96,000 polling stations. The Central Election Commission followed this up with an order to polling station heads to show every page of their electoral return to the cameras.

But critics say there is no guarantee that there will be sufficient bandwidth to view the footage or that opposition observers will be given access to footage.

While the new monitoring groups have had a relatively tolerant response from the authorities, Golos claims that it is being harassed on the government's orders, to the extent of having been kicked out of its offices without explanation.

Will the monitoring be effective?

With opposition activists estimating fraud to have made a difference of as much as 15% to the December parliamentary vote, some observers say the unprecedented number of monitors could have an impact on the conduct of the election.

However, there are also doubts about the monitors' effectiveness. While in theory they can freely move around polling stations, they have in practice often been obstructed and even ejected from polling stations in the past.

Observers also caution that most independent monitors will be concentrated in large urban areas, leaving the election lightly monitored in much of the rest of Russia's vast territory.

What role will the media play?

As in the past, Mr Putin can count on the enthusiastic backing of the tightly-controlled main national state television channels. Only some smaller private TV stations are likely to deviate from this line, but their reach is limited to a small number of urban areas.

Recent state TV coverage has continued its traditional pattern of portraying Mr Putin as a strong, masculine leader capable of defending Russian national interests at home and abroad.

Since the December elections, the state TV channels have softened their usual disregard for critical voices, with several anti-establishment politicians being allowed to appear after years of absence.

However, this has coincided with growing pressure from the authorities on the handful of outlets of free speech in Russia, including liberal radio station Ekho Moskvy and the outspoken newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

Mr Putin also angered opponents by refusing to take part in planned TV debates between the candidates, saying his duties as prime minister made it impractical for him to attend, and that he would send representatives instead. One opposition spokesman said the move showed "disrespect" to his opponents.

While television - still the main news medium for most Russians - may still largely favour Mr Putin, the internet is a growing factor. With little government regulation, opposition voices have a strong presence on the web, and the internet has been one of the driving forces behind the anti-Putin protests.

Source: BBC News - Q&A: Russia's presidential election

Candidates and Parties for the 2012 Russian Presidential Elections



RussianPresidentialCandidates.JPG

Crossposting:

Vladimir Putin! Vladimir Putin! Vladimir Putin!

Putin Putin Putin! One cannot imagine what country wouldn't want a nationalistic son like him to become her President!

As is widely known, the Americans are very scared of Putin. They know that VV doesn't beat around the bush and means business. They got a taste of his resolve during the standoff at Pristina International Airport, too bad it is not much publicised as the tale of yankee-brit cowardice would become widely known then. His resolve became clearer during the Georgian conflict. Therefore the dishonest among the yanks would do a lot of things to ensure that Putin should not come to power. However that seems unlikely, despite what the 'free western press' says, Putin still enjoys the confidence of the majority of Russians, not because they are scared of him, but because they are proud of him. That is something the americans can never be of their presidents post WW2.

LOL Malaysians are too scared that the 'Czar' will come and chew a small patch of land like theirs.

All right guys - poll added!

Note, however, that not all might end up competing in the runoff, if there is one.

Dunno much about Russian Politics!!

I was just reading about "Liberal Democratic Party of Russia" , and they seemed to be someone capable to bringing back the Soviet Era. Could someone explain briefly about this Party.


May not Ukraine, But they seem to capable enough to unify Belarus back into Russia.

Read up on their leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky. He is one heck of a radical guy. Don't be fooled by the 'liberal' tag of his party.

Recently, Navalnyi is being showered with praise in the western media. Little do they know that he is a skinhead shouting slogans like "Russia for Russians" etc. What does the US expect from an ultranational like him, US behind licking?
It is laughable how Hillary Clinton was, only a few weeks ago, trying to interfere in sovereign matters like elections of other countries. Only after a roar from Vladimir Putin, did the remarks stop. Proves that there are people in this world who scare US top brass a lot.

http://rt.com/news/election-russia-b...president-785/

http://rt.com/news/vote-cameras-elec...ansparent-783/

Polling day dawns in Russia | Video | Reuters.com

Russia election: Vladimir Putin seeks third term

4 March 2012 Last updated at 02:53 ET | BBC News


Voters are turning out at 90,000 polling stations

Polling stations in across Russia have opened as the presidential election gets under way.

Sunday's vote sees Vladimir Putin hoping to become president again after four years as prime minister.

Mr Putin was Russia's president from 2000 to 2008, but was barred by the constitution from standing for a third consecutive term.

He faces four challengers, three of whom he has defeated in previous elections.

The election is being held against a backdrop of popular discontent, sparked by allegations of fraud during December's parliamentary elections.

Polls will be open from 8am to 8pm in each time zone, with the first opening in the Far East of the country at 20:00 GMT on Saturday, and the last in the western Kaliningrad region closing at 17:00 GMT on Sunday.

The interior ministry is bringing 6,000 police reinforcements to Moscow from the regions, according to Russian media reports.

Recent protests

Mr Putin's main challenger is considered to be Communist Gennady Zyuganov, who is running for a fourth time.

The other candidates are ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov, who is standing as an independent, and former upper house speaker Sergey Mironov, from the centre-left A Just Russia party.

If Mr Putin fails to achieve more than 50% of the vote he will face his nearest rival in a run-off.

However, the liberal opposition behind some of the recent protests is not represented.

The so-called white-ribbon movement has attracted more than 50,000 people in recent demonstrations in Moscow and other major cities, after widespread allegations of vote-rigging during elections for the State Duma. Similar numbers attended pro-Putin and pro-Communist rallies.

Mr Putin has responded by announcing a programme to install webcams in each of the country's 90,000 polling stations, but critics have questioned their effectiveness.

"Cameras cannot capture all the details of the voting process, in particular during counting," said a report by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), quoted by the Associated Press.

A joint mission by the OSCE and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe comprising 250 observers is monitoring the elections.

Meanwhile tens of thousands of Russians have volunteered as election observers and been trained to recognise and report violations.

Source: BBC News - Russia election: Vladimir Putin seeks third term

Putin Is Japanese (Putin and Putyatin)

Japan's Conspiracy (4) P8

Putin's birthday is the 100th anniversary of the dispatch of a Russian expedition for Japan.

But the story doesn't stop there.