Putin 'elected Russian president'

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: BBC

Vladimir Putin has been elected Russian president for the third time, exit polls suggest, after spending the last four years as the country's PM.

The exit polls gave Mr Putin about 60% of the vote, meaning that he should avoid a run-off with his nearest rival, Communist Gennady Zyuganov.

Officials say turnout was higher than for the last election in 2008.

But opposition groups have reported widespread violations, with many people voting more than once.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17252190

[tabatha]

1. Selected?

[Broderick]

2. Certainly no election

In my opinion only. Lol

[TBF]

7. +1 nt

[MACARD]

3. whats a communist doing running against Putin they stand for the same thing

[TBF]

4. Excuse me? You're showing your slip. nt

[chrisa]

37. Where's he wrong? Putin acts like he wants to bring the 'good old times' back to Russia.

[TBF]

38. Putin is not a communist. nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. What has happened in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union is nothing like communism

Russia now has a large number of the world's richest billionaires, and most of them support Putin.

[LiberalLovinLug]

17. Its more like a state sanctioned mafia

And Putin has a lot of horse heads to go around.

[Bradical79]

33. Putin seems more like a Capitalist

Like many of the Chinese politicians, he figured out an authoritarian capitalist system is a lot more profitable than an authoritarian communist system :-P

[chrisa]

36. Putin is actually a Corporatist

Which is basically on the other spectrum of Communism, but equally as dumb. Russia basically has gone from Communist-lite to Fascist-lite. It's weird.

[TBF]

6. There will be a re-count (though I doubt this has any official status)

Russia's communists and two prominent liberal organisations agreed today to perform an alternative vote count of Sunday's presidential election.

Communist Party of the Russian Federation MP Yuri Afonin said: "We have concluded an agreement with the Rosvybory project of Alexei Navalny and the League of Voters."

More here: http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/content/view/full/116111

[Fool Count]

18. What recount? It was a landslide - Puting won over 60% of votes with the nearest rival

getting only 18%. The result is almost exactly the one predicted by all pre-election polls and
confirmed also by exit polls. There was no need for Putin to cheat at all. The losers just
can't believe how low their support was, anyone can sympathize with that delusion.

[TBF]

19. Stuffing ballot boxes can certainly result in a landslide -

MOSCOW: Russians voted on Sunday in an election set to send strongman Vladimir Putin back to the Kremlin but which the opposition said was marred by fraud and would be followed by mass protests against his rule.

Observers scrutinising the polls and opposition parties said there were clear signs of foul play in the election, including multiple voting, despite the installation on Putin's orders of webcams to ensure transparency.

More here: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Putin-set-to-reclaim-Kremlin-despite-protests/articleshow/12135862.cms

[Fool Count]

21. This is ridiculous. Why in the world would Putin need to stuff ballot boxes?

All the polls had him at 60% and that's how much he received. Ditto the exit polls.
If opposition and the West can't wrap their heads around the fact that Putin is genuinely
popular in Russia, that's their problem. There is nothing here to make hay off. The sooner
the West recognized that fact, the better they could formulate and implement a realistic
policy towards Russia. Promoting the delusional thinking based on some pro-Putin conspiracy
vote rigging theory would serve nobody's interests and no useful purpose. The West may think
that they can create a new reeality by wishing it to be so, but, I am afraid, they are
overestimating their powers.

[TBF]

22. We'll see what the opposition protests look like tomorrow.

I have no interest in what "the West" wants for Russia.

[Fool Count]

23. The opposition is the extension of Western mindset. It almost entirely consists of

urban pro-capitalist elites in Moscow and St. Petersburg who did well enriching themselves
under Putin. That's quite ironic that the ones who benefited the most from Putin's rule are
now his most implacable opponents. It doesn't matter what those protests look like, they
have no chance of success, because they are based on a false premise - that Putin's
election was fraudulent and he is not a legitimate President of Russia. That is just a lie,
which cannot be a basis for a popular movement. A real political opposition would accept
truth and reality and would formulate some alternative political and economic program
which they could present the voters with during the next elections. But all they have now is
the made up crap about how wily Putin cheated them out of their certain victory. It is just
an example of how the sheltered elites could delude themselves into a false consciousness.
What do they expect to accomplish with their protests? Do they think Putin will give up
power after the electoral support he's got? They must be living in some bizarro world,
if they are serious about it.

[TBF]

24. Communists are hardly pro-capitalist elites. nt

[Fool Count]

26. Communists are largely irrelevant in context of anti-Putin protests.

They are just there for the ride, they don't control the movement or its main agenda.

[TBF]

27. Gennady Zyuganov came in 2nd with 17.4% of the vote -

at least those are the official numbers according to an updated Wiki account (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_presidential_election,_2012). He belongs to the Marxist party - Communist Party of the Russian Federation. The next challenger after that managed 7%.

Who is controlling the opposition movement if not the communists?

[Fool Count]

28. I didn't say they were irrelevant in Russian electoral politics,

they are basically the only real opposition - the rest share the same pro-capitalist
ideology and only differ on who should do the stealing. I said that they were irrelevant
for the anti-Putin protest and they are. They don't participate in the main organizing
committee and don't officially take part in those meetings. At the end of the day they
will assume their parliamentary seats and commence their legislative opposition duties
as any other normal opposition party in the world and as they did for twenty years already.
I myself support their program and would vote for them when I have a chance. I am not
a Putin supporter but I am a big fan of reality-based approach to life in general and to
politics in particular. And the reality is that Putin is supported by most people in Russia
and he won that election fair and square. Everyone who claims otherwise is a liar,
and lying to people is not a way to start a popular political movement. Obviously, the
leaders of protests disagree. They are either cynical manipulators or delusional about
their own standing among Russian people. Either way, they are not the people capable
or deserving of leading Russia.

[TBF]

29. I see

I'm pretty much the same - or I wouldn't be on this board obviously (2-party system here, until that changes you pick one).

I did expect him to win, but I don't know that I dismiss the accounts of fraud out of hand.

[Bradical79]

32. Don't know why, but it happened...

Video surfaced of it happening in Dagestan (and those results have later been thrown out). I mean there's numerous video and photographic evidence showing up demonstrating that there was quite a bit of fraud. It's not just a conspiracy theory, it's the natural conclusions from following the evidence and eye-witness accounts. While the election wasn't stolen, he would have likely gotten over 50% anyway, it seems to be just business as usual for Russian elections. Just because you don't understand the psychology or motivation behind it, it doesn't mean the well documented fraud didn't happen.

[Fool Count]

34. There is "documented fraud" in any elections.

When almost 100 million people vote there bound to be some violations.
If any violation invalidated the result, it would be impossible to elect
anyone ever. The whole population of Dagestan is less than 2% of Russia's
total. Even with 100% fraud it could not have affected the final result,
which was consistent with all pre-election and exit polls too. The opposition
is just trying to make hay where there is none to be made. Most people
In Russia know for a fact that Putin was elected legitimately, simply
because they voted for him themselves. That is why the protests have
zero chance.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

8. I think there will be a lot more unrest in Russia

[xtraxritical]

15. Eto nyet xoroxa. (This is not good.) eom

[Jack Rabbit]

9. Occupy Red Square!

!!

[Chico Man]

10. The Kremlin denied any legitimate contender

Watch out for Putin. This guy is a madman.

[Chico Man]

11. Putin Biography Chronicles Rise Of A 'Street Thug'

Heard this on NPR the other day. Very scary.

"Media suppression, corruption and the murder of political rivals have marked the regime of Vladimir Putin, who is running for his third term as president in Russia's election next week. Despite mass demonstrations, he's expected to win."

http://www.npr.org/2012/03/01/147653086/masha-gessen-how-vladimir-putin-rose-to-power

[ellisonz]

12. Oligarchy wins. n/t

[TBF]

20. Exactly. nt

[thesquanderer]

13. Putin elected Russian president?

Well, yes, I suppose he did!

[Turbineguy]

14. I've always wondered if Putin was

Dick Armey's case officer during his days with the KGB.

[Centrik]

16. YAY

Well 4 more years of Putin...Great!

[BadtotheboneBob]

25. Hail, Czar Vladimir!

The Putin Dynasty is established...

[Auntie Bush]

30. He must have read Bush' book on how to cheat the election process 101.

[muriel_volestrangler]

31. Bussing state employees around to submit absentee ballots at other polling stations

BBC Newsnight report: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17266397

[Fool Count]

35. There was less than 2 million absentee ballots out of almost 100 million total.

Even assuming that none of the absentees would have voted for Putin on his own volition,
that "massive" fraud would have padded Putin's totals by only 3%. What possible purpose
would that serve? So there goes that theory.

[LeftishBrit]

39. Putting 'elected' in quotation marks just about describes it!