Third term for Putin
In Russia, a Seemingly Scripted Call for a 3rd Term"A wave of demonstrations, billed as spontaneous public calls for Vladimir Putin to serve a third consecutive term as president, has swept across Russian cities in the last two weeks...
"The demonstrations are being organized by United Russia... according to political analysts and documents published by the Communist Party. United Russia denies it is the organizer...
"In addition to the rallies, there is a growing chorus of appeals from friendly politicians and other public figures for Putin to stay...
"Putin's future has crowded out almost every other issue in the campaign leading up to December's parliamentary elections...
"A member of parliament, who requested anonymity, said in an interview that governors of Russia's administrative regions have been instructed by Moscow that with Putin at the head of the party list, they should secure no less than 70 percent of the vote for United Russia in their jurisdictions.
"That would easily give United Russia a two-thirds majority in parliament, allowing it to change the constitution to enable the sitting president to run for a third consecutive term, which is now barred by the constitution...
"The drive to keep Putin in power reflects the sentiments of a majority of Russians, according to opinion polls...
"The [Novosibirsk] Communist Party... published on its Web site telegrams from the local authorities ordering state railway workers to attend the demonstration. The party said the telegrams were part of a wider effort to compel state employees, factory workers, teachers, students and pensioners to turn out for the demonstration.
"Similar reports of forced attendance have surfaced concerning rallies from the Russian Far East to the city of Tver, west of Moscow. An education official in Tver, for instance, told the Russian newspaper Kommersant that a day before a For Putin rally there, she was ordered to produce 3,000 teachers and students for the gathering..."
Labels: elections, politics, Russia
posted by Ken Wedding @ 6:52 AM
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