Russian Pundits Split Over Putin's Poll Victory, Expect Rise In Protests
Interfax - 3.4.12 - JRL 2012-41
Russia's city dwellers will not accept the results of the presidential election, political scientist and head of the Effective Policy Foundation Gleb Pavlovksiy has said, as reported by the Russian news agency Interfax on 4 March.
file photo
Pavlovskiy said: "It is interesting that in cities, starting from Moscow, Prokhorov occupies the second place. This is a new phenomenon. Those who voted for Prokhorov are those who voted consciously not 'for' Putin. We are facing a Russia that is split, I hope, temporarily. Its largest portion, living in cities, will not accept the results of this election regardless of what they will be. The future depends on whether 'Russia for Putin' will be able to reach an agreement with 'Russia not for Putin'. The question is whether they will be able to come to an understanding, which does not exist today."
He went on to say that protests would increase in the country. "Undoubtedly, protest activity will increase gradually. It is important that something other than street activities will emerge. The fate of the country cannot be decided on the streets," he said.
Pavlovskiy said: "Putin's results are expected. The task was set in front of the political machine that is powerful in this regard. Millions of people attached to the budget had to carry out their role."
He added: "There is a large share of those who voted sincerely in the percentages that Putin received."
Meanwhile, director general of the National Strategy Council Valeriy Khomyakov, as reported by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti later on the same day, said: "I am more concerned about how ordinary citizens will behave. I think they will take part in more wide-spread protests in connection with what happened in Moscow and other large cities today."
In turn, director of the Agency for Political and Economic Communications Dmitriy Orlov agreed that protests will increase. "Tomorrow 'For Fair Elections will have a protest. The only question is whether this protest will be expressed correctly without aggression and violence," Orlov said.
Co-chairman of the Public Chamber's working group on public control over elections Maksim Grigoryev said: "Protests are not only possible, but they will take place in large sizes. However, they are unlikely to be large-scale."
Furthermore, Public Chamber member Georgiy Fedorov said that the authorities were in a "constructive mood" but that there were certain political forces that "do not wish to work in the legal field".
Political scientist and director of the National Strategy Institute Stanislav Belkovskiy said that defeated presidential candidates would express indignation "formally" rather than take serious steps to contest the election results. "However, the active part of the society, which has proven its ability to organize itself regardless of the body of its leaders in the past two months, will take to the streets," Belkovskiy said. He added that Putin could make "serious concessions in terms of liberalizing party legislation, gubernatorial elections, creating public TV and forming a coalition government and dissolving parliament in 2013 in exchange for legitimizing election results".
Political scientist and expert of the Humanitarian and Political Studies Institute Vladimir Slatinov said that protesters would demand "changes in the system" rather than "a review of election results". He added that if opposition candidates declared the election to be illegitimate, this would seriously hurt election results.
Keywords: Russia, Election, Government, Politics - Russia News - Russia
Russia's city dwellers will not accept the results of the presidential election, political scientist and head of the Effective Policy Foundation Gleb Pavlovksiy has said, as reported by the Russian news agency Interfax on 4 March.
file photo
Pavlovskiy said: "It is interesting that in cities, starting from Moscow, Prokhorov occupies the second place. This is a new phenomenon. Those who voted for Prokhorov are those who voted consciously not 'for' Putin. We are facing a Russia that is split, I hope, temporarily. Its largest portion, living in cities, will not accept the results of this election regardless of what they will be. The future depends on whether 'Russia for Putin' will be able to reach an agreement with 'Russia not for Putin'. The question is whether they will be able to come to an understanding, which does not exist today."
He went on to say that protests would increase in the country. "Undoubtedly, protest activity will increase gradually. It is important that something other than street activities will emerge. The fate of the country cannot be decided on the streets," he said.
Pavlovskiy said: "Putin's results are expected. The task was set in front of the political machine that is powerful in this regard. Millions of people attached to the budget had to carry out their role."
He added: "There is a large share of those who voted sincerely in the percentages that Putin received."
Meanwhile, director general of the National Strategy Council Valeriy Khomyakov, as reported by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti later on the same day, said: "I am more concerned about how ordinary citizens will behave. I think they will take part in more wide-spread protests in connection with what happened in Moscow and other large cities today."
In turn, director of the Agency for Political and Economic Communications Dmitriy Orlov agreed that protests will increase. "Tomorrow 'For Fair Elections will have a protest. The only question is whether this protest will be expressed correctly without aggression and violence," Orlov said.
Co-chairman of the Public Chamber's working group on public control over elections Maksim Grigoryev said: "Protests are not only possible, but they will take place in large sizes. However, they are unlikely to be large-scale."
Furthermore, Public Chamber member Georgiy Fedorov said that the authorities were in a "constructive mood" but that there were certain political forces that "do not wish to work in the legal field".
Political scientist and director of the National Strategy Institute Stanislav Belkovskiy said that defeated presidential candidates would express indignation "formally" rather than take serious steps to contest the election results. "However, the active part of the society, which has proven its ability to organize itself regardless of the body of its leaders in the past two months, will take to the streets," Belkovskiy said. He added that Putin could make "serious concessions in terms of liberalizing party legislation, gubernatorial elections, creating public TV and forming a coalition government and dissolving parliament in 2013 in exchange for legitimizing election results".
Political scientist and expert of the Humanitarian and Political Studies Institute Vladimir Slatinov said that protesters would demand "changes in the system" rather than "a review of election results". He added that if opposition candidates declared the election to be illegitimate, this would seriously hurt election results.