The "election" in Russia was yesterday and ended with Dmitry Medvedev, Putin's hand picked candidate for President winning 70.23% of the Russian vote. From the naked eye, looking at this it makes you think, wow, the Russian people have pretty consistent beliefs. This is not so.
The Russian people are the guinea pigs of a society that claims to have democratic elections, but in no way is this the case. A number of political parties in Russia The Central Election Commission did not allow several candidates to even run for the office of Presidency. Mikhail Kasyanov, Vladimir Bukovsky, Garry Kasparov, Nikolai Kuryanovich, and Oleg Shenin were all not allowed to run. There are many things also that stand in the way of being able to run for the office of President. Presidential candidates must be approved by the Central Election Commission. They also must get 1 million signatures in a petition to run. In the United States I believe the number is only 1-2 thousand signatures.
How does all of this make you feel about Russia?
Is Russia a democracy still?
Do you agree with the following statement: "The Russian electoral system is beginning to become similar to that of Iran."?
Do you think that Putin will attempt to circumvent power from the new president when he is named the new Prime Minister?
Does the Russian government have legitimacy?
