| Yesterday the winter meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg was held in Russian. The
Russian delegation, which chaired the meeting, insisted that it be convened
in Russian. "Such moves are permitted by protocol. Put on your headphones
and listen," said Mikhail Margelov, chairman of the Federation Council's
international affairs committee, on the eve of the meeting.
The meeting discussed Russia, including the organization and results
of the parliamentary elections in December. David Atkinson, head of the
PACE monitoring group, still considers that "the elections were free
but not fair." Atkinson reported: "Russia's progress towards
democracy has not changed direction, but has certainly slowed down."
The official's belief is based, inter alia, on "the biased coverage
provided by three state TV channels."
Atkinson said: "It affected the whole campaign. It is a retrograde
move. However, voters could vote for whomever they preferred."
Communist Party (CPRF) leader Gennady Zyuganov promised before the PACE meeting to show Europe "what they have not seen."
Zyuganov refused to elaborate on the kind of evidence he intended
to present to the PACE. Initially, the CPRF had intended to bring to
Strasbourg the results of the alternative vote count provided by the CPRF's FairGame system.
Judging by this count, the Yabloko party and Union of Right-Wing Forces
did overcome the 5% threshold and the results of United Russia were at
least 3% lower than the official figures. However, Zyuganov did not give
any specifics in his report, preferring vague phrases about "dirty
campaign tactics." The CPRF leader urged the PACE "not to exaggerate
Russia's achievements along the path to democracy," and informed
it that Russia was being transformed into a police state. Observers are
now guessing whether all these emotions will be reflected in the resolution
to be passed this Friday.
Some observers do not rule out the possibility that the Russian delegation
may still shock Strasbourg. LDPR Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who is attending
the PACE meeting, intends to introduce Oleg Malyshkin, his former bodyguard
- now the presidential candidate for the LDPR. Two months ago Malyshkin
got involved in a fist-fight with participants in campaign debates on
television. Zhirinovsky and his protege will hold a joint press conference
at the Palace of the Council of Europe today.
See also:
State Duma elections
2003
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