February 12, 2024

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Is there a realistic opportunity for the opposition to increase its support or gain power through elections?

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Russia has never experienced a democratic transfer of power between rival groups. Then prime minister Putin became acting president when Boris Yeltsin resigned in late 1999. Putin served two four-year presidential terms from 2000 to 2008, remained the de facto paramount leader when returning to the prime ministership, and again became president in 2012, violating the spirit if not the letter of the constitution’s two-term limit. A 2008 constitutional amendment extended presidential terms to six years, and a 2020 amendment allowed Putin to run for an additional two terms, meaning he could remain in office until 2036.

Opposition politicians and activists are frequently targeted with fabricated criminal cases and other forms of administrative harassment designed to prevent their participation in the political process. Aleksey Navalny was poisoned with a toxic nerve agent in 2020, with evidence later emerging that the FSB poisoned him. Navalny, who sought medical attention in Germany, was arrested upon his return in January 2021 for violating probation. In January 2022, Navalny and eight prominent supporters were added to the government’s terrorist-and-extremist registry. In March, Navalny—who was already imprisoned in a penal colony—received a nine-year sentence over embezzlement and contempt-of-court charges in a politically motivated trial.

Legislation enacted in 2021 banned individuals associated with extremist organizations from running for election. Among other restrictions, Russian citizens who hold a second citizenship or a foreign residence permit and people who have been found guilty of one of 400 criminal and administrative offenses were unable to run for office as of that year. Also in 2021, Golos reported that nearly one-tenth of all Russian adults had effectively been denied the right to run.

https://freedomhouse.org/country/russia/freedom-world/2023

And that's just one 0/4.

That's what Michael Flynn lied for... talking to that 0/4.

That's what Tucker Carlson interviewed... giving legitimacy to that 0/4

That's what Donald Trump wants to have the freedom to attack NATO members... that 0/4