Russia: legislative elections without opposition

Legislative without opposition. After 8 months of repression of anti-Kremlin movements, Russian voters will have little choice. United Russia, Vladimir Putin’s party should retain its majority in Parliament.

To boost participation, posters encourage voters to vote electronically. As a bonus, a lottery to win accommodation or a vehicle.

Basically, on the other hand, the campaign for the 450 seats of deputies is almost non-existent except for partisan signs here and there, and a few late televised debates.

Not enough to feed the enthusiasm for this election which takes place from Friday to Sunday.

“It is obvious that the upcoming elections are a sham and I am quite surprised at the vigor and intransigence with which the authorities are treating the opposition this time around. The lack of real choice is quite depressing.“explains Anton.

Unfortunately, we have no choice, we all know it, we all see it … what more can we add? It is difficult to see these elections in a positive way, it’s just a joke“says Grigory.

For Andrey, retiree: “J__I will vote for United Russia and for Putin because he gave Crimea back to Russia ”.

Training should also be required in most local and regional elections that take place at the same time.

Still, United Russia is unpopular, with 28% of favorable opinions. At issue: multiple corruption scandals and a lifestyle that contrasts with the fall in real income for Russians, which has worsened with the pandemic.

President Putin, who is still popular, has therefore joined the campaign.

At the United Russia Congress at the end of August, he announced financial aid for 44 million retirees, police and military, categories at the heart of his electorate.

For the opposition, these legislative elections will be marked by fraud. International OSCE observers have not been allowed to come in large numbers and there will be no more webcams in polling stations to film the electoral process. And many independent media and NGOs have been classified as “foreign agents”, an infamous label complicating their operation and funding.

Reference-feedproxy.google.com

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