Russian Elections was not democratic

President Vladimir Putin's party, United Russia, overwhelmingly won the parliamentary elections in Russia. But many believe that elections were 'not free and fair' and 'not democratic'. Now EU calls on Russia to answer election criticism.

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Russian Election is a Joke

As it has been expected by everyone, polls conducted by Russian state-controlled companies show President Vladimir Putin's party winning more than 60% of the vote in parliamentary elections. The communist party was running with about 12% of the vote and other parties followed.

Critics also note that "United Russia" was the only party allowed to campaign on national television.

Earlier Sunday, after opposition leader Garry Kasparov cast his vote, he accused the ruling party of, in his words, "not just rigging the vote, but raping the whole electoral system."

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Elections without choice in Russia

There is no doubt that Vladimir Putin's party (United Russia) will win an overwhelming majority in Russia's parliamentary election on Sunday but non in a democratic way.

State-run media brainstorms people to vote for president and United Russia. State employees being pressured to vote at work or to fund United Russia and even of schools encouraging parents to do their patriotic duty and back the president.

"Elections without choice", commented the New Times, an independent political weekly, above an article illustrated by a Soviet-style poster urging the masses to back Putin.

"The old Soviet mentality is alive and well and people are returning to their former ways," echoed political analyst Georgy Bovt in a newspaper article.

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Police Break Up Anti-Putin protesters in Russia

There no fredom of speech in Russia and there is still many people arrested for political reasons.

Many of opposition activists were arrested by police Sunday as they tried to rally against President Vladimir Putin's government in central St. Petersburg.

Demonstrators were chanting "Russia without Putin!" "What we are seeing now in St. Petersburg resembles a military operation," said Olga Kurnosova, a coordinator of the Other Russia coalition of opposition groups that organized the rally. "It shows the authorities' fear."

Opposition activist Daria Makukhina said that several party activists running for parliament in next Sunday's vote were beaten and detained.

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Moscow is the most expensive city in the world

Moscow is the most expensive city in the world to live in followed by London.

Copenhagen, Geneva, Zurich and Oslo also made the top 10, together with mostly Japanese towns and Hong Kong.

The global top 50 saw 30 European cities named. Milan (11), St Petersburg (12), Paris (13) and Dublin (16) also scored high, with Dublin now just 0.4 percent less expensive than New York and pricier than Rome.

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Pro-Kremlin parties dominate in a fake Russian Democracy

Pro-Kremlin parties, including United Russia (a party that supports President Vladimir Putin), have won Russian regional elections, preliminary results showed yesterday, after a campaign that left Russia's weak opposition more marginalised than ever.

Pundits had predicted that government parties, buoyed by a strong economy, Kremlin-controlled media, generous funding and Mr Putin's popularity, would sweep the vote.

Critics of the Kremlin say the opposition, in retreat since Mr Putin's first presidential win in 2000, never had a real chance.

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Russian Army Horror and Abuse - “rule of the grandfathers”. Watch video...

Hundreds of thousands of new recruits face grossly abusive treatment at the hands of senior conscripts throughout their first year of service in the Russian armed forces, Human Rights Watch said in a report.

The 86-page report, “The Wrongs of Passage: Inhuman and Degrading Treatment of New Recruits in the Russian Armed Forces,” documents the serious human rights abuses involved in dedovshchina, or “rule of the grandfathers,” which results in the deaths of dozens of conscripts every year, and serious—and often permanent—damage to the physical and mental health of thousands others. Hundreds of conscripts commit or attempt suicide each year, and thousands run away from their units.

In the Russian army, older conscripts force new recruits to live in a year-long state of pointless servitude, punish them violently for any infractions of official or informal rules, and abuse them gratuitously - practices which clearly violate Russia’s military code of conduct. The officers’ corps and the Russian government have failed to take effective steps to stop these abuses.


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