Russian parlamentary elections - a victory for autocracy

[Edric O]

Following Russia's recent elections, the Duma seems to have regained the status it once held under Tsar Nicholas II - a decorative parliament concerned mainly with singing praise to the Glorious Leader of the Motherland.

President Putin's Puppet Party - United Russia - scored a massive victory in elections, winning almost enough seats to form a simple majority all by itself. Of course, given the fact that the government did everything in its power to support United Russia and make the other parties shut up, this result is hardly surprising. United Russia was also helped by the surging tide of voter apathy which hit most of the Russian people. After all, the only real opposition party in today's Russia is the KPRF (Communist Party of the Russian Federation), all the others being either government puppets or too small to make a difference.

This is a very informative article about the current situation of Russian democracy.

Compare the election results over the past 10 years, and the relative strength of the government puppet parties:

As you can see, the opposition took quite a beating - and the only ones who survived are the Communists. And besides the various independents, they are also the only meaningful opposition remaining in the Russian parliament.

You have to appreciate the irony: The Communists (and I am not sure whether they have reformed their old Stalinist ways or not) are the last bastion of Russia's capitalist democracy.

But one question rises above all others: What will Putin do with the near-absolute power he now has? Will he carry on as usual and step down when his presidential term expires? Or will we see the return of the Tsars - albeit in a more modern form?

[Gobalopper]

From what I've heard it seems he is going to try to change the constitution and the 250 or so seats that are now pro-Kremlin will help a lot. He is term limited which I think is the reasoning behind changing it?

[Mahdi]

Sounds like the Canada.

[Caid Ivik]

Communist Zjuganov condemned Gorbacov's practices, he believes in victory of proletarian dictature. Stalinist, how you call it. Zirinovskij, calling himself a "liberal democrat", is a nationalist demagogue, who would lead Russia to war with USA without doubt. Other parties like Javlinskij's Jabloko are pro-reform and quite democratic, however, instead of forming a coalition they remained separate, so they have no power now.

So, Russians have only one way to maintain internal peace, that's Putin's Odnaja Rossija and Vlast, which is also full of his puppets. Plurality is crushed and now he controls everything. I can say, Putin has already reached the status of true russian emperor.

[Dante]

Nice. I always admired the Romanovs... perhaps their legacy can live on. Lets hope this era won't be quite so... naive?

An autocratic Russia. *Goes misty-eyed* Ahhh.....

[Sneakgab]

Is that you're you're sense of humour I'm hearing or you're sanity falling apart (or more apart:D) j/k

[Dante]

Neither. I'm an autocrat. Down with democracy!