The Economist December 1st 2007 - Online Public Access Catalog

Russia's electionPutin's phoney electionNov 29th 2007 | MOSCOW AND TVERFrom The Economist print editionReutersWhat lies behind this weekend's sham parliamentary election“MARIA”, a teacher in Tver, near Moscow, felt ashamed when she told her 15-year-old pupils to join a rallyin support of President Vladimir Putin before this weekend's parliamentary election. The order came fromthe local administration, staffed by members of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party. “I would not havelost my life or even my job if I had not followed the order. But I felt I could not refuse it, perhaps becauseI am not a free person. Ten years ago I would have told you my real name,” she sighs. Her pupils weregiven Russian flags to wave, but the sound system was so bad they could not hear the speeches. It wasnot until later that they learnt from television that they had joined in an “outburst of patriotic feeling”.Tver was chosen because it is the land of Mr Putin's forebears, but similar “voluntary” demonstrationshave been staged all over Russia. A local theatre in Tver hosted a council of pro-Putin groups. Anyone whois for Mr Putin is for United Russia, they decreed. Or, to put it the other way round, anyone who is againstUnited Russia is against Mr Putin. When the president decided to head United Russia's party list, its pollrating jumped from 50% to 63%.Yet Mr Putin is not even a member of United Russia. The party is no more than a vehicle. If theadvertising banners hung across streets in every Russian town are a guide, most of the country will votefor their president on December 2nd, even though he is not up for election. Indeed, the exercise is notreally an election at all. It is not about political competition and does not have fair rules. It is aboutconfirming that power in Russia lies with Mr Putin, who has presided over an oil-driven bonanza for hiscountry.Only candidates approved by the Kremlin are allowed to take part. Besides United Russia, which couldsecure 70% of the vote, these include the toothless Communist Party (which may get 12%) and theLiberal Democratic Party, a clownish far-right party set up in the late 1980s with the help of the KGB. (Itsparty list includes Andrei Lugovoi, the ex-KGB officer accused of poisoning his former colleague, AlexanderLitvinenko, in London last year.)The results were fixed months ago, when the Kremlin changed the rules. To keep the opposition out ofparliament, the Kremlin raised the threshold for seats to 7%, and banned small parties from formingcoalitions to meet this requirement. The minimum turnout rule was abolished, as was the option to voteagainst all candidates. Regional parties and single-mandate seats that let in independent deputies werescrapped. Opposition leaders have been harassed or arrested and their financing blocked. Television hasgiven blanket coverage to United Russia and dished dirt on all opposition. This propaganda has been so