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That United Russia, on which party list President Vladimir Putin is running for the December 2 State Duma election, is merely a crypto-Stalinist potemkin placeholder for Moscow’s Leninist leadership is evident in the following articles. In the first story Putin admits that United Russia has no ideology or principles for which its leaders are willing to fight, while in the second poll results reveal that many Russians view the “party of power” as a new version of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Putin continues to insist that he will be involved in Russian politics after he is constitutionally obligated to step down from the presidency in March 2008.
Putin says Duma election ‘test’ for him
November 13, 2007, 20:20
Russian President Vladimir Putin says if his United Russia party wins December’s election, he will have a moral mandate to keep the country’s parliament and government accountable. The President also mentioned that the United Russia party is “the best we have anyway”.
Putin is fully aware that United Russia is not an ideal political structure. “The party has no stable ideology, or principles for which the majority party is ready to fight and stake their reputation. Impostors usually try to infiltrate in such structures, and they often succeed in this,” he explains. But according to him, there is nothing better in the country. “It’s important that some things have been done only thanks to the fact that I relied on United Russia in parliament. There was a consolidated force there that helped me not only to take decisions, but also put them into practice,” adds the President.
Putin sees the lack of trust as a big problem with the politicians in Russia.
“Remember the beginning of the 90s, they promised one thing – gave quite the opposite. Promised prosperity, gave poverty. Oligarchs made billions in profits at the expense of millions of people, we had civil war, and the country was on the verge of collapse,” he recalls.
People’s mandate
If people vote for United Russia, with me heading the list, this means the majority of citizens do trust me, which in turn means that I will have the moral right to demand the fulfilment of current decisions from all those working in the Duma and in the government. I won’t say how exactly I will do this, but there are various options.”
“If people vote for United Russia, with me heading the list, this means the majority of citizens do trust me, which in turn means that I will have the moral right to demand the fulfilment of current decisions from all those working in the Duma and in the government. I won’t say how exactly I will do this, but there are various options,” said Putin.
Putin says his decision to lead United Russia gives him the best opportunity to embark on a radical programme for Russia.
“I made the decision to head the United Russia party’s list in order to convince people to vote for this party and to help form a majority in the State Duma, which would be in agreement with the executive authorities, the government,” Russian President says.
President Putin says he’ll have a hand in Russia’s politics even after his presidential term expires in 2008.
“Concerning me personally, there is a saying that the winner is not the one with the power, but the one with the truth. This really has deep meaning,” he stresses. Analysts are busy fortune- telling – Prime Minister, Parliamentary majority leader or the Head of the Kremlin’s Security Council.President Putin is keeping everyone guessing over his political future, and although it’s still uncertain, one thing is clear – there certainly will be one.Best option
Political analyst Dmitry Babich from the `Russia Profile` magazine says running for parliament would be the best legal option for the President.
“If the President had gone to business or became a national leader whatever that means – all of this will not be quite legal. The best legal option for the President to continue his influence in politics is to run for the Parliament, win that election which gives him a moral right to demand something from the people and to require something from the members of the Duma,” Babich stresses.
“He is basically saying to the Russian people: if you want this to continue, like that of the last eight years: I’d like to invoke Ronald Reagan. He said once: are you better off now than you were four years ago. Putin is essentially saying the same thing: are you better off now than you were eight years ago. That’s a pretty strong statement. He wants to take his charisma and pass it on to a political party,” adds RT political commentator Peter Lavelle.
The President has given his remarks in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk to meet his advisory board – the State Council – to discuss Russia’s transportation problems.
Source: Russia Today
Meanwhile, the independent polling agency Levada Center conducted a poll in October that “showed that more than one-third of Russians see United Russia as the new Soviet Communist party, and half want it to control all branches of power.” United Russia is performing its job well of mobilizing the country’s citizen slaves and deceiving the West, although “OSCE observers described the 2003 election as a step backward for democracy, saying the state had used the media and other levers to favour United Russia.”
Many Russians liken pro-Putin party to Soviet-era Communist party
Oct 31, 2007
MOSCOW – Russia’s parliamentary election campaign officially starts Saturday with an opinion poll suggesting many voters see the main pro-Kremlin party as a new version of the Soviet Communist party and want to give it tight control over the country.
The United Russia party, which controls the current parliament, is expected to consolidate its position in the Dec. 2 election, especially after President Vladimir Putin announced a month ago he will lead the party ticket.
Putin’s decision to lead United Russia’s ticket was seen as an indication he is considering using the party as a springboard to maintain power after he steps down as president next year.
Putin said he would not join United Russia, and leading the party’s ticket does not oblige him to take a seat in parliament. He is barred by the constitution from running for a third consecutive term in March.
The campaign for the 450 seats in the parliament’s lower house officially begins Saturday.
A survey by independent pollsters Levada Centre last week showed that more than one-third of Russians see United Russia as the new Soviet Communist party, and half want it to control all branches of power.
Some 48 per cent of those polled said they did not see the party as a new Soviet Communist party and 18 per cent had no answer. The poll was of 1,600 people and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
United Russia said Tuesday that it will not take part in televised debates with the 10 other parties, saying it would be more effective to talk to voters directly and spend more airtime on election advertising.
“United Russia is a collection of bureaucrats and others who want to be close to the government. They don’t have political convictions, therefore they cannot engage in a political debate,” Lyudmila Alexeyeva, a Soviet-era dissident who heads Moscow Helsinki Group, a human rights body, said on Ekho Moskvy radio.
The seats in the lower house, the State Duma, will be distributed on a proportional basis among parties that receive at least seven per cent of the vote. Only a few parties are expected to clear the threshold.
A draw was held Wednesday at the Central Election Commission to determine parties’ places on the ballot. United Russia drew No. 10, just ahead of the only liberal opposition party, Yabloko, said commission spokesman Rustem Nigmatulin.
The commission said the number of international observers will be limited to 300 to 400, compared with 1,100 for the last parliamentary election in 2003. An invitation for international election monitors was sent this week to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Nigmatulin said.
The OSCE had expected the invitation to be issued weeks ago, sparking concerns about the fairness of the election.
OSCE observers described the 2003 election as a step backward for democracy, saying the state had used the media and other levers to favour United Russia.
Russian officials have accused OSCE election observers of being biased against Russia.
In September, Russia submitted proposals to the OSCE that would restrict the activity of international election monitors. The OSCE’s election monitoring body is expected to decide on the proposals in November.
Source: The Canadian Press
Once Upon a Time in the West 
>Now certainly this presents a no major surprise of United Russia being the “new version” of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation/Soviet Union.You may also want to see what’s going on with the “revived” Red Army Faction stating that its leader based in the “ex”-Soviet Republic of the Czech Republic would threaten to implement terrorism along with Czech officals “knowing” about the RAF cell prior to the cell revealing himself.