Vladimir Putin is expected to break his silence on Russia‘s protest movement on Thursday, when he hosts an annual televised call-in show that has become one of the hallmarks of his rule. The programme, which usually lasts for hours and is a forum for Putin to promote his cult of personality, comes as the prime [...]
Tag: parliamentary vote
December 16, 2011
December 16, 2011
Vladimir Putin’s deputies responding to protests turn focus on to ringleaders
Vladimir Putin brushed off complaints of election fixing during his annual televised live chat with the nation on Thursday , but behind the scenes his lieutenants are anxiously plotting how to quell rising discontent. Putin claimed during the phone-athon that he was “cheered” by the sight of tens of thousands of Russians flooding on to [...]
December 11, 2011
Protests against election fraud kick off in Russia’s Far East
Some 150 people took to the streets in Russia’s Far Eastern city of Vladivostok on Saturday to protest against the alleged fraud in Sunday’s parliamentary vote, local police said. The protesters gathered on the seaside Korabelnaya Embankment, carrying placards with photocopies of election protocols, which they claim have been rigged in favor of Prime Minister [...]
December 11, 2011
Russians fight Twitter and Facebook battles over Putin election
Russians have flooded Facebook and Twitter as they organise unprecedented protests against Vladimir Putin‘s United Russia party. But they are not alone. Thousands of Twitter accounts appear to have been created with the sole purpose of drowning out opposition voices by flooding the service’s hashtag search function. The automated attacks have dumped a blizzard of [...]
December 9, 2011
Russian election watchdog emails to US State Dept. go online
Russian news website Life News has published emails it claims show correspondences between the US State Dept. and the major Russian election-watchdog Golos, discussing financing to help discredit the results of Russia’s parliamentary vote. Life News says it has come into the possession of 60 megabytes of Golos’ private online correspondences. According to Life News, [...]
December 8, 2011
Vladimir Putin says US encouraged election protests
The Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, blames the US for encouraging protests over Russia’s recent parliamentary election. He accused Hillary Clinton of giving ‘the signal’ to opposition leaders, who are expected to gather thousands of people for a major protest on Saturday. Clinton has repeatedly criticised the parliamentary vote in Russia last weekend that gave [...]
December 5, 2011
One percent of election protocols in Russian parliamentary vote declared invalid
Some 1 percent of election protocols from polling places following Sunday’s parliamentary vote in Russia have been declared invalid, the country’s Central Election Commission (CEC) said on Monday. “About 1 percent of protocols are invalid,” a CEC spokesman said. With more than 85 percent of the election protocols from local polling places counted, United Russia [...]
December 4, 2011
Independent Russian Websites Hacked, Disabled On Election Day
MOSCOW — Suspected hackers shut down several Russian websites that provide independent election data, making state-controlled media one of the few widely accessible sources of information about today’s parliamentary vote. The website of Golos.ru, the last remaining independent election-monitoring group based in Russia, was shut down early today. That group is partially financed by the [...]
December 1, 2011
Putin support dives as more Russians grow uneasy about leader’s return
In a shoddy classroom at the main university in Yaroslavl, a town of snow-covered churches 150 miles north of Moscow, a group of students are discussing Sunday’s parliamentary vote. In previous elections Vladimir Putin‘s United Russia party entered the race assured of gaining high levels of support. Such an outcome can no longer be guaranteed [...]
November 29, 2011
United Russia’s ex-member Aladin to sell membership card at auction
A member of the United Russia party in the southern Russian city of Samara, Alexander Aladin, left the party with a scandal and put his membership card up for an auction in the internet for one ruble (three cents), Russian news agency Novy Region reported on Monday. In this fashion the former member of the [...]
November 29, 2011
Kremlin accused of crackdown on Russians’ access to western media
Putin accepts the nomination from his party. Link to this video The Kremlin has launched a campaign to crack down on Russians’ access to critical western media, according to a former employee of the country’s main state-run news agency. The RIA-Novosti news agency last weekend reportedly ordered the employee to avoid stories critical of the [...]
October 18, 2011
Greekonomics: make-or-break week
Greece faces another tough week, with a key parliamentary vote on even more belt-tightening. But angry Greeks are trying to resist the punishing cuts with strikes and sit-ins which have again ground the country to a halt. The country is still trying to convince its creditors that it deserves more cash help to avoid going [...]
October 2, 2011
Russian press pondering president’s unexpected interview
The Russian press is chewing over President Medvedev’s latest extensive interview, where he explained his withdrawal from the upcoming presidential race. He said Vladimir Putin’s high popularity level makes him the best man for the candidacy. The president’s interview with the heads of Russia’s three biggest TV networks – ORT, VGTRK and NTV – focused [...]
September 30, 2011
Russian elections not predetermined, says Medvedev
Election fever is gripping Russia with December’s looming parliamentary vote swiftly followed by the presidential run-off in March 2012. The president says it is the people’s votes which will decide who ends up with power in the country. President Dmitry Medvedev, who does not plan to compete for a second term, outlined his views on [...]