Medvedev's Secret Weapon

There may not have been any campaigning worth speaking about before this election, but there was certainly a mammoth effort to persuade people to vote on Sunday for a new president.

From text messages to all mobile phone subscribers across the country, to presents being offered to first-time voters, every method of persuasion and seduction seems to have been employed.

In this far eastern port city, which gives Russia access to the Pacific Ocean, they were handing out baseball caps to students who made their first tentative steps inside a polling station.

In other parts of the region, it is reported that discount shopping vouchers were on offer.

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Russia coerced citizens to vote using, cheap incentives. This puts the accuracy of the elections into question. this shows some of the lengths the country is willing to go through to increase voter turnout. Is this an attempt to seem more democratic?

Russia Sets Sail For a "Three Hour Tour"

While the presidential election proved entirely predictable, the transfer of power from Vladimir Putin to Dmitry Medvedev looks likely to be anything but.

This will be the first time in the country's history that a popularly elected head of state hands over power to another popularly elected head of state.

The lack of precedent is raising some curious constitutional questions over exactly how the Kremlin's impending round of musical chairs is going to work.

"There is not really any previous experience for what happens between an election and the moment the new president assumes power," said Mikhail Krasnov, an author of the Constitution.

While Medvedev is now president-elect and first deputy prime minister, Putin by law will remain president until May 7, exactly four years after his inauguration. Putin has said he will then become prime minister.

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Russia's already controversial election has become even more controversial. People are beginning to question the constitutionality of the new transfer of power. This questioning could hurt the legitimacy of Russia.

Surprise! Medvedev Wins!

The West cast doubt on Russia's presidential election yesterday after Dmitry Medvedev won a landslide victory and vowed to follow the course set by outgoing Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Near-complete results gave Medvedev 70.2 percent of Sunday's vote, crushing his nearest rival, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, who won 17.8 percent, the central elections commission said.

But allegations that the landslide was stage-managed by the Kremlin raised widespread criticism of the election's legitimacy.

The sole Western observer mission present for the poll, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), said the poll failed to reflect Russia's "democratic potential."

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Russia's long awaited election is over. Medvedev won. Everyone is now looking to him to improve Russia's diplomatic relations with the rest of the world. Although the elections weren't too free we get to see a very important part of Russia's political system.

Political Heir Is Less Rosy Than Putin on the State of Russia

MOSCOW — The presumptive successor to President VladimirV. Putin presented his platform for seeking Russia’shighest office on Friday, giving a speech before business leaders in Siberia in which he vowed to continue Russia’s economic revival, but also struck markedly liberal notes. Dmitri A. Medvedev met with reporters at a business forum in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk on Friday.

The speech by the candidate, First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri A. Medvedev, was a contrast to the public appearance only a day before by Mr. Putin, his sponsor. Mr. Putin was confrontational and sometimes caustic in what the Kremlin had billed as his final news conference as president.

On Thursday, Mr. Putin had sharply criticized the West and the United States, threatened to aim strategic missiles at Europe and said Russia would continue to develop its own, state-centered brand of democracy without instruction from outside.

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Could the platform of Russia's new presidential candidate be a facade? This article gives us more incite on the political workings of Russia. We also learn about Putin's hostile attitude and other poltical misleadings. The tension seems to be growing quickly.

Medvedev Insists on Rule of Law

"The firm favourite to win Russia's presidential election, Dmitry Medvedev, says the state should train employees better to consolidate the rule of law.

Mr Medvedev, a first deputy prime minister, told lawyers it was "necessary to give state employees more thorough and better legal training".

President Vladimir Putin has named Mr Medvedev as his preferred successor. The election will be held on 2 March.

Mr Medvedev has refused to take part in live TV debates with rival candidates.
The BBC's Russia analyst Steven Eke says a powerful public relations machine has been set in motion to groom Mr Medvedev as the nation's next leader. He is also chairman of the state energy giant Gazprom."

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The rest of the article describes Medvedev's political platform. His speeches and goals "echo" that of Putin. Medvedev has basically assumed that he will be the future president of Russia and so have many of the voters. This article highlights the similarities between Putin and Medvedev and show that he will be a puppet of Putin when he is elected.

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Vladimir Putin’s Trademark Begins to Decline

Dmitry Medvedev

"Putin’s persona, the Vladimir Putin brand, goes out of fashion slowly but surely. Russians are developing a new political addiction – Dmitry Medvedev, Putin’s protégé, his official successor. The propaganda machine has been taking great efforts to promote the new brand across Russia. The new brand, Dmitry Medvedev, has thus been outshining his predecessor – Putin."

"November of 2007 became the peak of “hail-Putin period.” That was the time when Russia was getting ready for parliamentary elections and when Putin chaired United Russia party. Thousands were saying that it would be a crime for Putin to step down. Those who urged all Russians to vote for Putin now say that the people of Russia should vote for Dmitry Medvedev.
“We were supporting Putin’s course, not a particular person. Since Dmitry Medvedev personifies Putin’s course now, we are now supporting Medvedev,” they say. "

"Putin's approval rating was 81% in June 2007, and the highest of any leader in the world. His popularity rose from 31% in August 1999 to 80% in November 1999 and since then it has never fallen below 65%. Observers see Putin's high approval ratings as a consequence of higher living standards that improved during his rule and Russia's reassertion of itself on the world scene. Most Russians are also deeply disillusioned with the West after all the hardships of 90s, and they no longer trust pro-western politicians associated with Yeltsin that were removed from the political scene under Putin's leadership. "

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Medvedev will most likely win the presidency because of Putin's popularity. Putin is pushing Medvedev's name and the people will probably vote for him simply to support Putin.

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Putin's Nominee for President Has A Challenger

As Russian elections get closer, there is only one truely recognized candidate running for office. Now, former Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Kasyanov, is petitioning to run in the elections. He is said to have submitted a list of supporters containing over two million names. " Russian law requires candidates who lack the backing of a party with seats in parliament to deliver the petition."


On Wednesday, January 16, he arrived at the election commision office where "[h]e told the BBC he did not believe the election would be free or fair." A free and fair election would most likely still not get him into office because "[h]e was sacked as prime minister in 2004 and subsequently investigated for corruption - a move he claimed was politically motivated."


This does not apparently deter Kasyanov from running. But, he said, he was running for the presidency in order to defend the "democratic" institutions he had empowered during his time in government.





"Today I feel that all my... results are being destroyed by this current regime," he said.

To read the article in its entirety here.

Although he has little chance of winning, Kasyanov is utilizing the Russian law that "requires candidates who lack the backing of a party with seats in parliament to deliver the petition." He is essentially showing Putin that not every Russian approves of the way things are being run now and do not wish for Putin's "lap dog" to gain office.

Putin Selects His Choice for the Upcoming Elections

As the Russian Presidential elections get close, President Putin's support of potential candidate has not been what anyone could call constant. Over the past few months, his public endorsements of candidates has jumped from Dmitry Medvedev to Sergei Ivanov to Viktor Zubkov, and then back to Mr. Medvedev. Now, Medvedev has "invited Mr Putin to be his prime minister."

Medvedev has been termed "Putin-2" and reaffirmed this on the day he was "anointed." In a televised statement he "rea[d] from an autocue, and even imitat[ed] Mr Putin's voice and style, he declared: “I consider it of utmost importance for our country to keep Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin in the highest post of executive power, the post of head of government of the Russian Federation.”

Read this story in its entirety here.

The endorsements that Putin provides the potential candidates has proved to be a deciding factor in the opinion polls. The "leading candidate" has become whoever Putin is supporting at the time. This shows how Putin still holds lots of influence over Russia's citizens. At the rate his "favor" has been floating around, another change would not come as a suprise.