Russian Election Called Undemocratic by Observers
March 3, 2008
Dmitry Medvedev has commonly been referred to as Vladimir Putin’s chosen successor to the Russian presidency. Now that the results of the election are official (Medvedev won by a landslide), the flames of that idea are being fueled by comments made by European election observers, who said that the process was “not fair.” The Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly also said that it was “more of a plebiscite” – a process by which voters accept or reject a single option instead of choosing one of several options. Andreas Gross, chairman of the 22-member delegation of European Members of Parliament, said, “We believe there was not freedom in these elections. The results of the presidential elections … are a reflection of the will of an electorate whose democratic potential was, unfortunately, not tapped” (Guardian).
Gross also said that state-run television was overly biased in favor of Medvedev and that other viable candidates were left off the ballots. As an example he mentioned Mikhail Kasyanov, “the only genuinely democratic challenger.” Gross said that “Candidate registration procedures should be simplified to be more inclusive and less cumbersome for independent candidates.” Capping off his description, Gross noted that many local and regional government employees felt pressure to vote for Medvedev or risk losing their jobs.
In spite of concerns, however, the European Union has acknowledged Medvedev’s victory and congratulated him. President Bush has not officially congratulated him yet, and neither has U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, but both are expected to within the week (Reuters).
Medvedev has said that he will “preserve the path which President Putin has proposed.”
