As of 10 am, Moscow time, on March 3, Russiaâs Central Election Commission was reporting that with more than 99% of the votes in the March 2 presidential election counted, President Vladimir Putinâs handpicked successor, Dmitry Medvedev, won 70.23% of the vote. That means 51,938,974 Russians voted for Medvedev, which is more than the 49,565,238 Russians that voted for Putin when he was re-elected president in 2004.I am shocked, I tell you, shocked. Only 70 per cent of the vote and a turn-out of under 70 per cent. Whatever happened to the sensible Soviet way of running elections? Mind you, I am quite pleased with the way the vote is going. President-elect Medvedev is edging the figures up to their required level.
According to the same preliminary results, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov came in second, with 17.76% of the vote, followed by Liberal Democratic Party of Russia leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky (9.37%), and Democratic Party leader Andrei Bogdanov (1.29%) (Cikrf.ru, March 3). Turnout â again, according to preliminary results â was 69.61%, compared with 64.38% in the 2004 presidential election (Newsru.com, March 3).
Hillary Clinton has been criticized for not knowing the name of Russia's new President. "Meh, um, Menedvadah -- whatever," she said at last week's debate. But her slip actually told a larger truth because, as Mrs. Clinton also put it, "the decisions will be made by Putin."Sounds entirely reasonable to me. Actually, Medvedev is quite easy to pronounce but the point is valid. President Whatever, he is going to be, unless things happen in Russia fast.
"As Russia becomes more powerful, many people get irritated," he [Medvedev] told a Russian magazine. The West would prefer that Russia stay "a sort of Upper Volta with nuclear missiles," he said, while "now we have begun to show our teeth in moderate fashion." In recent months, those teeth were bared against Ukraine, Georgia, NATO expansion, the U.S. missile shield in Central Europe, Kosovo independence and efforts to stop Iran's nuclear bomb. Having badly misjudged Mr. Putin, the West shouldn't expect much better from his hand-picked successor.Does the Wall Street Journal agree with image of Russia baring her teeth and showing her strength? Because, as one goes through that list of arguments two things become clear: most of them were completely unnecessary and Russia could have used diplomacy instead of teeth-baring; and, furthermore, Russia lost each and every one of those rows.
The other piece of news is that Russia has cut down supply of gas to Ukraine by 35 per cent. It seems unclear why they should do so now, unless it is to ensure that Ukraineâs instability never goes away.MOSCOW POLICE STIFLE ATTEMPTED MARCH OF DISSENT PROTEST.
Police prevented the Other Russia coalition on March 3 from holding a March of Dissent action in Moscow to protest the previous day's election of First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as president, RFE/RL's Russian Service and other media reported the same day. Several hundred people gathered for the unsanctioned march, but police cracked down with overwhelming force. Union of Rightist Forces leader Nikita Belykh was among the dozens of demonstrators detained by the authorities.
In St. Petersburg, some 1,000 activists participated in a sanctioned demonstration at which no violence was reported. Speakers at the rally called Medvedev's election "shameful" and "illegitimate," while the crowd chanted, "We are not slaves" and "Your elections are a farce." National Bolshevik Party leader Eduard Limonov told the crowd that "our generation will prove [its courage] yet again by showing resistance to this unjust regime," "The St. Petersburg Times" reported on March 4.
UkrGazEnergo is a joint venture between Naftohaz and a second contentious intermediary named RosUkrEnergo. The two intermediaries have, at least until recently, received commissions on the sale of a mix of Russian and Central Asian gas to Ukraine.Gazprom is trying to reassure west Europeans that their supplies will not affected but is also accusing Ukraine of siphoning off gas that is intended for Germany and other friends of Russia. President-elect Medvedev, still chairman of Gazprom, fully supports the companyâs actions.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the former "gas princess" who has a long history of clashes with Gazprom, has voiced her fierce opposition to the involvement of the intermediaries since regaining the premiership in December.
When Gazprom announced on December 5 that it had reached a deal under which Ukraine would pay $179.50 per 1,000 cubic meters for gas in 2008, Tymoshenko said the continued use of UkrGazEnergo and RosUkrEnergo was part of a "corrupt" and "brainless" policy.