Russia: One Step Forward Two Steps Back
Condoleeza Rice is concerned that Russia is backsliding on democracy. After meeting with Human Rights activists in Russia this week to get their feeling about the upcoming elections, her statement made clear her fear, “In any country, if you don’t have countervailing institutions, the power of any one president is problematic for democratic development.”
Rice believes that there is too much concentration of power at the Kremlin, making it doubtful that there is full independence in the legislative, judiciary and electronic media sections of government.
One Human Rights leader was quoted as saying, “Lyudmila Alexeyeva of the Moscow Helsinki Group told the Interfax news agency her organization sees “the purposeful construction of an authoritarian society and an onslaught on the people’s rights, elections are being turned into farce, and human rights and opposition organizations are experiencing pressure.”
Let’s not forget that Putin is an old KGB member, and although Putin is scheduled to step down next year, it is unlikely that he will step away and leave power all together, he has said that he will lead the Kremlin Party in the parlimentary elections and may take the Prime Minister’s position.
Garry Kasparov, the Russian Chess champion who is running for president in the March Elections, says that Putin’s dominance will continue. Mostly fueled by the oil driven economy, Putin’s autocracy is drowning out any Democratic voices. Whoever is handpicked by Putin is alright by most Russians in the polls.
At this point most opposition candidates are not running to win but rather to keep the election process going.
Read More:Yahoo News: Rice worried by Putin’s broad powers
Read More: Yahoo News:Russian chess: Kasparov vs. Putin
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