Russian Presidential Candidates

[mendeleyev]

From the Mendeleyev Journal:

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin isn't that comfortable on a computer so it is no surprise that he is leaving the Social media campaigning to out-going president Dmitry Medvedev. Mr. Medvedev is younger and much more comfortable around technology.

You can imagine the surprise for an American journalist to be "spammed" in last minute election campaigning as Sunday's election draws closer. Well, it says it isn't spam but it really is. Rather than being upset, we're wondering if this is a sign that I'm being more accepted as a "Russian" man? To be included in an election message is pretty cool.



(Message: My friend (nickname) is involved in the election on March 4. Really need your vote. This is not spam.)

Millions of Russians on vk.com and other social sites received this message. Your faithful editor/publisher is not a citizen so I won't be voting but send a thank you for each Russian citizen who accepts his/her duty in making a choice, no matter the candidate.

[mendeleyev]

From the Mendeleyev Journal:

There are several things Russians know. First, Vladimir Putin will win the presidential election. Call it fore-ordination or whatever you'd like, but he will win. Second, opposition groups have been emboldened since December and will protest the voting results. Third, Vladimir Putin as president is likely to take a dimmer view on opposition rallies than out-going president Dmitry Medvedev.

Predictably, Moscow city officials have denied opposition requests to hold a rally at Manezh Square on March 5, one day after the presidential vote. Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov said Tuesday that permission had been denied for a Manezh Square rally, likely because the Square is next to the Kremlin.

Opposition leader and anti-corruption lawyer/blogger Alexei Navalny posted on his blog that demonstrators should gather at Moscow's Lubyanskaya Plaza on March 5 despite the refusal of a permit by city officials. Lubyanka is the site of the old KGB headquarters and prison and today is home to the FSB, the successor to the KGB. 

Moscow City Hall has offered a couple of alternative locations outside the city centre, one being Poklonnaya Gora the site of Moscow's popular "Victory Park" and the scene of a pro-Putin rally recently.

In the final week leading up to Sunday's vote there seems to be no end to the social media campaigning from both sides as witnessed on this YouTube video.

[mendeleyev]

Today's Mendeleyev Journal, second edition:


(Moscow) They began to arrive on Wednesday, 29 officials from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to monitor the presidential elections on March 4. Led by Dutch politician Tiny Kox, the delegation is currently in meetings with Russia's official presidential candidates in Moscow.



Presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov met with the PACE and OSCE delegation.

The PACE delegation has joined a group of election monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Moscow. The joint group will meet with election authorities in St. Petersburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Arkhangelsk and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsk prior to Sunday's voting.
 
There are five candidates officially registered – Prime Minister Vladimir Putin representing the United Russia party, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, nationalist Liberal Democratic LDPR party head Vladimir Zhirinovsky, A Just Russia party leader Sergei Mironov and billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov.

The OSCE and PACE observers will jointly monitor Sunday's national presidential and are expected to announce their election monitoring results on March 5.

[ML]

Led by  Dutch politician Tiny Kox,

Lucky for him he doesn't live in a predominately English speaking country.

= = = = =

Sorry for the off topic here Mendy, but I can't resist this humor.

Man is in hospital for extended stay.  Nurses all start to notice and talk among themselves about his very small instrument, and fact it has a tattoo that says 'Tiny'

As he was about to leave hospital, he asks one of the nurses to go on date with him; and she agrees.

Next morning this nurse comes into hospital walking bow-legged and complaining about hurt in her intimate region.

Other nurses ask how this could happen since they all knew of the 'tiny' situation.

She said, yes, but when fully operational it read:  Tiny's Bar and Grill Chattanooga,  Tennessee.

[mendeleyev]

Profile of Russian Presidential Candidates, the Mendeleyev Journal:

Who is Sergei Mironov (Сергей Миронов)? He is the leader of the Russian political party A Just Russia and a Socialist. A proud socialist, to be sure.


(Sergei Mironov speaking to International Socialists in Geneva, 2007.)

When his party was accepted into the group known as Socialist International, Mironov said that European socialism is Russia's future. "Socialist International is a powerful organization, and with its help we can effectively defend Russia's national interests. And I'm sure that the diplomatic work that Just Russia does within Socialist International will do a lot for the good of our country."

Mironov's party, A Just Russia, was created in 2006 as a result of merger of the parties “Motherland”, “Russian party of the retired people” and “Russian party of LIFE”. They are represented in the Russian parliament, the DUMA.


(Sergei Mironov (far right) during an interview on Moscow's Echo Radio.)

Mironov was born on 14 February 1953 in the town of Pushkin located just outside Saint Petersburg. He graduated from school in 1971 and entered the military, serving as a member of airborne troops of the Soviet Army. His political career began in Saint Petersburg and he served as Chairman of Russia's Federation Council from 5 December 2001 to 18 May 2011.


(Sergei Mironov with children housed in a Russian women's penal colony.)

There are questions however as to whether Mironov is truly an independent candidate. He ran for president opposing Vladimir Putin in 2004 but publicly said, "We all want Vladimir Putin to be the next president." In 2008, President Vladimir Putin awarded Mironov the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 3rd degree.

Mironov has in parliament proposed an amendment to the Russian constitution to allow the President to be elected for 3 consecutive terms of 5 or 7 years.

Like many Russian political figures Mr. Mironov is a regular internet blogger at http://sergey-mironov.livejournal.com and his official website is www.mironov.ru.


 

 

[BC]

Mendy,

Thanks for providing an insight and awareness of other other candidates.

The OSCE report should be interesting along with the video surveillance Putin set up.

I do believe Putin will win, maybe with a lower margin than before, but still well within acceptable percentages.

I think he has served his post well during a time of recovery.. sometimes a strong leader is needed to provide some level of stability.

Russia should grow out of Putin's shoes sometime in the future, but it will, and should be at a time when a stronger man or woman can take over.

Russia should remain strong and not devolve into weak leadership.

The 'west' has one great fault and that is the desire for instant satisfaction, but must realize that Russia is not a new Wallmart on the block.  Good things do take time.

20 years in history is almost nothing.. lets not forget that.

[SANDRO43]

Sergei Mironov (Сергей Миронов)? He is the leader of the Russian political party A Just Russia and a Socialist.

He seems to be using a logo also used by several European Radical parties .

[OlgaH]

Economists said that Putin's election populism, his flirting with people raising pension and salaries to the employees of  government-financed organizations (teachers, doctors, nurses and so on) including bureaucrats that Putin bred during his 12 years, will cost Russian budget 5 trillions rubles. Such funds as pension, compulsory medical insurance and social insurance spend twice more money than they collect, but they have to be covered. Inflation in Russia already ate up all the pay rises. There are not enough finances in the Russian budget to support all Putin's social programs plus Putin has raised spending on the military. Gazprom is Putin's project that run by Putin's friends and relatives, so Putin and Co decided to raise taxes on Gazprom to collect more money for Russian budget, and Gazprom at the same time raises prices on gas for Russian gas consumers. It is written right on the Gazprom website. After election Russians will pay more for gas, electricity and it means prices on all other goods will go up. Plus there are discussions in the Duma about new taxes to be imposed on people. People don't think about tomorrow. People don't think about such fact as the pay rises to cover the prices on the food during inflation don't help economy and industry to grow, the money simply goes to the toilet bowl. The Russian 2012-2014 budget totally depends on oil prices. All this stability looks like a soap bubble.

[mendeleyev]

Olga, you make an excellent point. Putin's long-time friend and former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has been shouting this message from the rooftops and to anyone who will listen. Kudrin is credited with guiding Russia through the global financial crisis up until his sudden dismissal by President Medvedev a few months ago.

[mendeleyev]

The lady in the video is Ksenia Sobchak, often called the Paris Hilton of Russia. On the very day that Moscow's Luzhniki stadium was filled with Putin supporters, Sobchak released this parody, mocking the election of Vladimir Putin.





If her last name seems familiar there is a reason. Her father gave Vladimir Putin his start in politics. Her Dad is none other than the famous man who co-wrote the Russian Federation Constitution, Anatoly Sobchak. It was Anatoly Sobchak the first democratically-elected mayor of Saint Petersburg who gave Putin a chance to learn politics in Saint Petersburg as a member of his staff. Dmitry Medvedev was a member of that young team fresh out of law school, too.

Sobchak's video doesn't mention Putin by name but is unquestionably a parody of the Putin ads on TV titled, "I'm Voting For Putin."

In the video you just watched a tired and sluggish looking Sobchak says, "I have decided to vote for this candidate because the economy and standard of living in our country have become much better. He has always been responsive to any request. He has helped us all. And especially now, with the threat of an Orange Revolution like in Syria or Libya, we can't rock the boat. We must rally around one leader. This is why I made this difficult decision."
 
At the end of the video the camera show her tied to a chair, obviously having been forced to endorse the candidate. A man at the end of the video tells the cameraman to bring in the next victim, a popular talk show host from opposition Radio Echo.

Funny? Well, not quite. As it turns out, actress Chulpan Khamatova whose charity for children with cancer has made her a hit across Russia, was apparently forced into making a commercial for Mr. Putin just weeks earlier.
 
So now comes the next question: Will Miss Sobchak "pay" a price for her parody? Is she untouchable? Mr. Putin stated earlier this week that someone in the opposition might be killed soon so that Putin could be blamed for the death.

Some believe her to be out of Putin's reach. He owes much to her father, but then when prosecutors came after Mr. Sobchak near the end of the Yeltsin years, Putin allowed him to flee Russia ahead of investigators. Perhaps all debts are even?

Miss Sobchak might use caution when driving or riding the metro these days. The path she has chosen can be a dangerous place to tread.

[Maxx2]

Miss Sobchak might use caution when driving or riding the metro these days. The path she has chosen can be a dangerous place to tread.

Rather reminds me of the anthrax death of the editor of National Enquirer. He had ordered his photographers to get photos of the Bush twins getting drunk bar hopping. Not long later the anthrax terrorist the month after 9/11 sends him some weapons grade anthrax in the mail. When the FBI finally catches the anthrax terrorist they put him in a mental institution and he kills himself with an overdose of aspirin before he can be questioned. Case closed. Then there is the "DC madame" hanging herself in the elderly mother's utility shed for her to find. 12,000 phone numbers of her clients never to be released as the case is closed. Dirty world we are living in.

[mendeleyev]

Last minute election reflections from the Mendeleyev Journal:

Don't get us wrong, these are good folks. When we saw that journalist Tina Kandelaki was on the panel it was a good sign. Tina is as independent as a Russian journalist of her high caliber can be, and therein lies a possible problem. The leaders of the "clean elections" observers have been handpicked by the government as opposed to the truly independent election monitors who will be under siege the rest of this weekend.


(Press conference of clean elections board, Friday 2 March 2012.)

At this morning's press conference on clean elections three persons of good reputation were introduced: The leader of the corps of observers "for clean elections" Dennis Panshin, TV Journalist Tina Kandelaki and Boris Nadezhdin a member of the public housing board.

The group of approved election observers are to be led by a government appointee, a journalist and an elected politician. We have nothing against the character of the persons chosen, and in fact in full disclosure should reveal that one is a fellow journalist and social media friend. But the selection process leaves us with the feeling that Russia still has a ways to go in convincing her citizens that the monitoring of elections is itself a truly independent process.

[tfcrew]

Czar Vlad for what? 12 more years?

Putin claims victory in Russia's presidential election amid allegations of violations in election

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/03/04/russians-head-to-polls-in-presidential-elections-expected-to-return-putin-to/#ixzz1oBw1UQuA

[Maxx2]

That will make him about 70 when he will be up for reelection again.