generalspeaking

Understandably Frustrated

Russia's opposition parties, at odds with one another, but united in their determination to unseat Vladimir Putin from the Kremlin whether as President or Prime Minister are now fairly demoralized. The tens of thousands of protesters that were heralded as being prepared to present their grievances in yet another march on the Kremlin, materialized as scheduled, post-vote, but with a somewhat diminished presence.

And some of the key organizers found themselves to be extremely popular, much in demand by the police, who took about 250 of them into custody. They resisted orders to disperse, too intent on protesting what they described as a fraudulent landslide victory for their current prime minister, preparing to resume the mantle of president. They are, understandably, frustrated. Although they should have been, realistically, prepared for the vote outcome.

After all it was not they but rather Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev who had complete control of state media, who suffused television with the laudatory triumphalism and exploits of Vladimir Putin, convincingly verifying for any who might not feel totally committed that Putin was their man, none other, and United Russia their obvious and hugely deserving party of choice.

Election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe denounced the balloting for the deliberate use of restrictive electoral rules and monopolistic access to state television and allied media. "There was no real competition, and abuse of government resources ensured that the ultimate winner of the election was never in doubt."

The protest organizers are now stumped. They made their views known, and received much sympathy in Moscow and in St.Petersburg. But not the vast, wide open and populated regions across the country where the muzhiks and ordinary Russians are quite content to continue having their very own still-popular strongman who brought prosperity to Russia continue his indispensable role.

"You must remember that we are making a lot of first steps. This is only our fifth protest meeting. Everyone is waiting for a big figure to appear to provide leadership." Well, that 'big figure' may be on the cusp of appearing, as though miraculously, from exile deep within the dungeons of the regime's prisons.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky will have some tempting choices to make; either make himself very, very scarce in Russia and take his impoverished, long-suffering self elsewhere within the international community or obstinately continue to represent a thorn in the side of his nemesis. The billionaire who thought he could out-politic the consummate politician failed and in the process lost his fortune and his freedom.

Now that President Dmitri Medvedev has ordered Russian prosecutors to review the (clearly illegal, unjust) prosecution of Mr. Khodorkovsky, it's likely his life will take, once again, an unexpected and perhaps very interesting turn.

Labels: Human Relations, Human Rights, Political Realities, Russia

posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, March 06, 2012