The primaries have once again highlighted the Kremlin’s domestic policy tactics. First, the administration announces a large project, makes promises, and even begins to deliver on them. Then, fears of failure and loss of control set in, and all work grinds to a halt. * * * The primaries join a raft of domestic policy gimmicks the Kremlin has used […]
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The federal election campaign in 2011 was the least successful to date for United Russia, which saw its reputation tainted by accusations of vote-rigging and fraud. How is Russia’s ruling party preparing for the upcoming elections in 2016 and can it repair its tarnished image among voters? (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – YEKATERINA SINELSCHIKOVA, RBTH – February 11, […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Robert Coalson – February 3, 2016) Elections for Russia’s State Duma, as well as a large number of local contests, are scheduled for September. And the ruling United Russia party wants to make sure its candidates are prepared for any awkward encounters with voters or journalists. The party has created a largely closed section on its […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 15 (Interfax) – All United Russia primaries candidates must take part in election debates, and it is wrong not to do so, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at a joint meeting of the party’s supreme and general councils on Thursday. “The candidates must participate in the debates, maintain a position of their own and be able to […]
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TOMSK. Sept 14 (Interfax) – Four United Russia candidates failed to win district head elections in the Tomsk Region, the party’s Tomsk regional secretary Sergei Ilyinykh told an Interfax press conference on Monday. “United Russia candidates won in six districts; independents won in four – Bakchar, Krivosheino, Zyryansky and Alexandrovsky,” he said. There are several reasons why the party’s election […]
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(RFE/RL – Tom Balmforth – MOSCOW, May 25, 2015) A prominent member of parliament for the ruling United Russia party has drafted a bill to allow enterprises to employ thousands of convicts as a cheap workforce to build infrastructure for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The legal amendments reported on May 25 in leading business daily Kommersant create a mechanism […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) – The economic focus of the Russian president’s address to the Federal Assembly derives from the challenges faced by contemporary Russia and some of the presidential ideas will determine the national development vector for the next few years to come, State Duma deputy, United Russia General Council Deputy Secretary Olga Batalina said. “The address was largely […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 3 (Interfax) – Russia should have tact and not try to give instructions to Ukraine on how to act in the situation of continuing protests in Ukraine, Andrei Klimov, deputy chairman of the Federation Council committee on international affairs and a member of the United Russia General Council presidium, said. “Further development of the situation depends on the […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, November 13, 2013) The issues of ideology in the United Russia party will be now overseen by deputy secretary of the party’s general council and a deputy speaker of the State Duma, Sergey Zheleznyak, instead of Andrey Isayev. “By the decision of the presidium of the general council, which met today, our commission for preparing party cadres, […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Marina Obrazkova, RBTH – October 11, 2013 Experts advise the ruling party of Putin and Medvedev to resolve practical problems. Last week’s United Russia congress demonstrated that the ruling party remains the nation’s leading political force and has no viable rivals. Nevertheless, experts believe United Russia will need to change fast or risk […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, September 16, 2013) Almost half of all Russians, 44 percent, agree with opposition leader Alexei Navalny that the ruling United Russia party is made up of “crooks and thieves,” a recent opinion poll showed Monday, a significant increase from two years ago. Navalny, an anti-corruption activist who finished second in Moscow’s recent mayoral election, coined […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova and Ezekiel Pfeifer – August 23, 2013) The mayoral campaign of opposition leader Alexei Navalny faced a new wave of pressure by authorities Thursday as the Moscow Elections Commission warned he could be struck from the ballot and police raided a printer of his campaign materials. With just over two weeks left before […]
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(Moscow TImes – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – July 26, 2013) The upcoming Sept. 8 regional elections across Russia will be more competitive than the previous ones, amid declining public support for the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, experts say. Despite compounded bureaucratic obstacles for the registration of candidates, ongoing regional election campaigns show an increased outflow of candidates from the […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Natalia Antonova, Acting Editor-in-Chief, July 15, 2013) The latest legislative initiative from the State Duma would award popular blogs the status of media outlets. I am using the word “award” somewhat ironically here. United Russia Deputy Sergei Zheleznyak, who saw himself and his family attacked in the blogosphere after it was revealed that his daughters […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, July 15, 2013) State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin believes that the spring session allowed the lower house of the Russian parliament to learn political lessons. “The past session was not easy, and, in some sense, it was a breakthrough session as far as both the amount of work and the political lessons learnt are concerned,” he said […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – June 11, 2013) President Vladimir Putin is expected to take the reins of the All-Russia People’s Front on Tuesday at the organization’s founding congress in a move some experts say is aimed at distancing himself from United Russia. As the ruling United Russia party found its reputation plagued by public criticism and […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – May 20, 2013) The ruling United Russia party kicked off a massive two-day forum with members from regional branches in Moscow on Friday, where it lauded its social and infrastructure projects, some three months before September regional and municipal elections. Raising the forum’s profile, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who chairs the party, […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Dan Peleschuk, special to RBTH – April 25, 2013) As United Russia’s reputation continues to suffer and Vladimir Putin voices increasing support for his People’s Front, what’s in store for the ruling party? Once an all-powerful vanguard party that helped President Vladimir Putin consolidate support and increase his influence over Russian politics, United […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Winning – March 28, 2013) President Vladimir Putin is set to attend a forum organized by the All-Russia People’s Front on Friday in a show of support for the movement he created almost two years ago to garner votes for the increasingly unpopular United Russia party. Putin will take part in the second day […]
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(Interfax – March 13, 2013) Russian Central Elections Commission (CEC) Chairman Vladimir Churov has criticized a report issued by a think-tank claiming that the 2011 elections to the State Duma were rigged and that the Communist Party actually garnered more votes in them than the United Russia party. A number of media outlets on Wednesday published conclusions from a report […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Winning – February 6, 2013) The ruling United Russia party has founded a “liberal” platform calling for a major overhaul of the party in light of heightened political competition. But analysts said that the party, known as a deeply conservative force led by Kremlin loyalists, had no intention of accommodating liberal attitudes and that […]
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