Putin Wins, But At What Cost?


	Putin Wins, But At What Cost?

Carl Lavin

12-3-2007 10:39 AM

531 views

tags:

putin, democracy, russia, election

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/4e5e8b02-d6bd-415e-8d54-3e06e395d487/D5B251E2-474D-4F08-90B6-6CAAFD04B3D7/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.theage.com.au/news/editorial/a-freedom-to-vote-is-not-a-vote-for-freedom/2007/12/03/1196530572732.html" href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/editorial/a-freedom-to-vote-is-not-a-vote-for-freedom/2007/12/03/1196530572732.html" style="font-size: 11px;">www.theage.com.au</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.theage.com.au/news/editorial/a-freedom-to-vote-is-not-a-vote-for-freedom/2007/12/03/1196530572732.html"><P>Mr Putin, a former KGB officer, has deprived
Russians of the oxygen of freedom of choice. To be in opposition is
to face a phalanx of Putin-inspired obstacles. Some of these
measures have echoes of Soviet repression. In essence, the voice of
the independent has been silenced: a candidate has to be aligned to
a party; the percentage of votes needed to win a seat has risen
from 5% to 7%; coalitions have been banned; and a party has to have
50,000 members. There is exquisite irony, which only history can
throw up, that on the 90th anniversary of the Bolsheviks rising to
power, the Communist Party is to ask the Supreme Court to examine
the validity of the results.</p> <P>There has been a chorus of criticism at the conduct of the
weekend poll, with claims of voter harassment and ballot-rigging.
Mr Putin has been able to sweep aside such complaints because of
his vast personal rating and the economic prosperity he has brought
to the country. </P></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/D5B251E2-474D-4F08-90B6-6CAAFD04B3D7/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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