People don’t have a real choice anyway – the result is therefore not meaningful.
(Photo: dpa)
Frankfurt When the polling stations in Russia closed on Sunday evening and projections of the first counts became known shortly afterwards, hardly anyone was seriously surprised: not only politicians loyal to Putin had predicted a broad success for the Kremlin party United Russia, but also many of the opposition members who remained in the country.
Because de facto, the citizens had little choice: in many cases, opposition candidates were not even allowed to vote, especially if they openly opposed Russia’s war against Ukraine. In addition, election observers from the independent organization Golos, which has been classified as a so-called “foreign agent” in Russia since last August, reported a number of possible cases of fraud. The government defines “foreign agents” as organizations or individuals that are under “foreign influence”.
It goes without saying that elections that are not free and independent are at most very limited in their meaning. Nevertheless, the Kremlin will now use the official results to legitimize Putin’s rule and to emphasize the support of the population – this is to be expected, especially given the military successes of the Ukrainian troops over the weekend. However, looking at the regional level, it is becoming increasingly obvious that support for the Kremlin chief is dwindling.
At the weekend, deputies from Moscow’s Lomonosovsky district called for Putin’s resignation, and a group from St. Petersburg had recently expressed similar criticism. The seven MPs from the country’s second largest city had asked the State Duma to accuse Putin of high treason for the invasion of Ukraine, as reported by the news portal Radio Free Europe – and have now been summoned by the police. And even Putin’s allies, such as Chechen leader Kadyrov, are now criticizing the Russian army. Kadyrov pointed out flaws in the country’s military strategy over the weekend.
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After this weekend at the latest, it will be clear: support for Putin at the local and regional level is finite. Even the best official results cannot hide this.
More: Now Putin will mobilize everything – because he is bracing himself against his downfall