This appears to be a pretty standard analysis from a Western perspective:
ON THE face of it, Vladimir Putin got everything he wanted. On September 18th his United Russia party won a thumping three-quarters majority in the parliamentary elections. There were no protests of the sort that marred its last victory in the Duma five years ago. The president called this a sign of stability and trust in his party.
It is anything but that. The Kremlin made every effort to ensure the elections were as sterile and low-profile as possible. It banned and harassed genuine opposition parties and their leaders. And it persuaded many that nothing depended on voters. The official turnout was 48%—the lowest ever in the history of Russian elections. This average included several ethnic regions, such as Chechnya and Dagestan, where the turnout was an improbably high 80% or more. In the largest cities, such as Moscow and St Petersburg, only a third of voters cast their ballots, down from two-thirds five years ago. Alexei Navalny, an opposition politician who led the protests in 2011 and was barred from taking part in this election, told his followers: “You have not lost because this was not an election.”
" It banned and harassed genuine opposition parties and their leaders."
There no any real opposition. I mostly don't even know who a they. They all fail exact moment they speak something on TV.
So Putin just let them openly speak, and thats all over, they are failed.
And Navalniy, the most known of them, he did tremendous fails.
1. He educated in American university :)
2. As new American consul arrived, Navalniy immediately went to meet with him to congratulate with appoinment. I just can't explain the whole size of this fail.
3. He openly approved gay parades.
4. He is a thief.
Wild Bill wrote:2. As new American consul arrived, Navalniy immediately went to meet with him to congratulate with appoinment. I just can't explain the whole size of this fail.
Doesn't get any better than that..... did he bother to think before he pulled such a stupid stunt?
Wild Bill wrote:2. As new American consul arrived, Navalniy immediately went to meet with him to congratulate with appoinment. I just can't explain the whole size of this fail.
did he bother to think before he pulled such a stupid stunt?
... if the party Parnas considers Crimea part of Ukraine, why it requests permission to participate on the Peninsula in the Duma elections in Russia? If Crimea is Russian, then why submit a petition to the Ukrainians?
That was just political suicide.
And the same with others.
The feeling, they are live somewhere else, not in Russia, they just do not understand (or do not cares) what Russians will think about their words or actions.
