RUSSIA: Opposition Parties Face Hurdles

By Kester Kenn Klomegah Reprint | | Print |

Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW, Sep 11 2007 (IPS) - A presidential decree allowing political parties to engage officially in public campaigns for parliamentary elections has come into effect, but opposition parties fear they may not get adequate access to media coverage.

The influential and state-controlled media generally cover parties backed by the Kremlin; others are poorly presented to the public.

The Communist Party of Russia (KPRF), the oldest political party in the country, believes that President Vladimir Putin’s administration will step up efforts to bolster United Russia, a party loyal to the Kremlin.

“When it comes to use of the media for political campaigns, obviously the state will have the upper hand; this has always been the situation, and will not change,” Communist Party representative in the State Duma, Yuriy Kvitsinsky, told IPS. “Opposition groups, most often portrayed negatively, continue to be at the losing end, with highly limited media access that will keep their activities from getting to the public.”

He warned of “dirty tricks in securing positions for the United Russia party, especially in the provinces where the party’s candidates won the last federal elections.” Restrictions, he said, are especially severe in the provinces, where regional governors and local authorities feel obliged to please their bosses in Moscow by showing strong results.

“After the signing of the decree by the President, the use of the media for agitation and propaganda will become so competitive that the majority of central and regional electronic and printed media come under the control of authorities or their owners,” assistant chairman of the parliamentary committee on information politics Alexander Krutov told IPS.

Krutov said the prevailing situation is that “all are equal, but some are more equal.”

Some 107 million Russians are eligible to vote in the election Dec. 2. The Electoral Commission says there will be ten to 12 parties to choose from, and that about 160 million dollars has been allocated from the federal budget for the election.

But whatever the disadvantages to other parties arising from getting a slice of this, United Russia is strongly placed. Putin has a high rating in most opinion polls, and that is likely to translate into solid support for United Russia, often referred to as “the party of power”, which supports Putin.

The latest surveys suggest almost 60 percent of Russian electors will vote for United Russia. A party must get at least seven percent of the vote to qualify to send representatives to parliament. This means that only three other parties – A Just Russia, the Communist party and the Liberal Democrats – are likely to join United Russia in parliament.

The lower house of legislators, popularly referred to as the State Duma, will be dissolved Nov. 30. Under the new election legislation, all 450 members of parliament will be elected on party lists. The country will elect a new president in March 2008.

The last session of the fourth State Duma began last week.

“The two key tasks of the Duma during this session are to report to voters and to work on new laws,” speaker Boris Gryzlov told the opening session. Gryzlov said that in three and a half years the fourth Duma has handled 2,492 bills and passed 975 laws “aimed at raising living standards, guaranteeing economic growth, increasing security and strengthening the Russian state.”

Parliament deputy Konstantin Kosachyov said he was confident that “observer missions will be able to confirm the elections are normal, and conform to international standards, primarily those of the Council of Europe.”