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Putin Suffers Blow In Russian Elections
Early exit polling from Russian parliamentary elections suggests that Russian President to Be Putin and his United Russia political party will win far fewer seats than they have in previous elections.
In previous votes United Russia had routinely won a 2/3rds supermajority which allowed Putin to basically govern by decree. The returns this time suggest that United Russian may not even win a simple majority in the Duma, forcing them to work with other parties.
Putin is still expected to win the Presidential race with ease so UR and Putin will remain in the drivers seat but things may be a little more democratic than in the past.
6 Responses to “Putin Suffers Blow In Russian Elections”
Putin victory represents Russia’s defensiveness towards the West. If the USA was not attempting to deploy missiles in Eastern Europe Putin may have scored even less support. Russians also know the USA is capable of electing another Bush type politician in 2012. That could mean an increase in provocation and international tension.
Expect more car bombs and kidnappings in Russia.
If only we could be sure that this would kill off the Putinites in Russia, and let Medvedev go freely on his own, this would be a good thing. However, I expect Putin to get a bolster from this. Some car bombs, a few attacks on government facilities.
Putin controls the media…he will up the propaganda and the dictatorship will continue.
According to the coverage I heard on NPR this morning the other parties are only the ones that Putin’s party allows to exist. The ones that would really challenge the way things are done in Russia don’t even make it onto the polls.
He gains power and recognition with:
AND, He can see America from his Dacha.
No, no, wait a minute… That was Palin and this is this is about Putin.
Sorry, it gets harder and harder to tell these crazy politicians apart.