Gennady Zyuganov, leader of Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF)
Photo: Dmitry Lebedev
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Foreign Media Forecasted Instability for Russia
Despite the landslide victory of Vladimir Putin’s United Russia at the parliamentary elections, the country’s future is obscure, foreign media reported, emphasizing violations noticed by independent observers and envoys of the parties.
The mere headline of The Times’ report is illustrative – “Vladimir Putin storms to victory amid loud claims of foul play and vote-rigging.” The better part of the article is devoted exactly to violations spotted by the international observers.
Complaints of administrative pressure were numerous with teachers, doctors and other state employees facing the choice of either to vote or lose their jobs. Local officials offered subsidised food, free mobile phone minutes and tickets to entertainment as inducements for people to go to polling stations, The Times reported.
The comments of The New York Times are equally interesting. The election triumph of Putin would lead the country to a new epoch of political instability, as the issue of his successor was still unsettled, the newspaper forecasted. Moreover, the edition published the opinion of political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky.
Belkovsky forecasted that Putin would become a target for critical attacks less than in three months after he stepped down, yielding the place in the nation’s conscience to the successor. If the economic situation in the country deteriorated, the successor would shift all responsibility to Putin, Belkovsky made clear.
www.kommersant.com
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