City Parliament Slammed For Pro-Putin Statement

By Galina Stolyarova

Staff Writer

Published: November 23, 2007 (Issue # 1326)

A major political uproar has broken out over an extraordinary political statement passed by the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly on Wednesday. It urged voters “to unite around the national leader Vladimir Putin” ahead of the forthcoming elections to the State Duma.

Russian electoral law bans both federal and local government structures and other power structures from engaging in political campaigning or distributing election propaganda.

The statement used grandiose rhetoric, which some critics compare to political proclamations from World War II, both in style and vocabulary. The liberal opposition condemned it as being both servile to the Kremlin and an illegal form of campaigning.

The motion approved by the assembly attributes to President Putin the credit for restoring the self-respect and patriotism in the Russian people and for reviving the country’s international reputation as a superpower.

“On Dec. 2 during the State Duma elections we will have to defend our achievements,” it reads. “That is why we, deputies of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly, regardless of our different political persuasions, ask you, dear citizens, to unite around the national leader Vladimir Putin and make your choice in favor of stability and advancing the development of Russia.”

The statement also emphasizes “the historical responsibility of every voter” and describes the forthcoming elections as THE VOTE in bold capital letters.

Vladimir Vishnevsky, a member of the political council of the St. Petersburg branch of the opposition democratic party Yabloko branded the statement as “collective self-abuse” in the sexual sense.

“This embarrassing public act of self-abuse shows that the politicians who took part in it get a kick out of pleasing the president — in whatever manner they can — rather than serving the people, and enforcing justice and equality,” Vishnevsky said.

Twenty-six lawmakers out of the 50-member city parliament voted in favor of the statement. Those supporting it included all 23 members of the Kremlin-backed United Russia faction and three members of the Liberal Democratic faction.

Yabloko says it is preparing lawsuits against each of the deputies that supported the motion, accusing them of breaching an electoral law that forbids state officials from using their powers and position in the interests of a specific party.

“Vladimir Putin fronts the United Russia party list and the motion discusses the parliamentary elections so the connection is crystal clear,” said Vishnevsky.

However United Russia politicians denied any such violation.

“The document does not mention any party by name and therefore cannot be interpreted as political propaganda that benefits any party,” argued Sergei Andenko, a United Russia member of the assembly. “Technically speaking, we are discussing Russia’s president, who is not taking part in the parliamentary elections.”

Another United Russia assembly member, Vyacheslav Makarov, went further and accused the Kremlin-created “opposition party” Just Russia of discrediting itself in the voters’ eyes by not supporting the statement.

Not a single parliamentarian voted against the statement. The Communist faction walked out in protest, while the bulk of the Just Russia faction abstained.

Communist parliamentarian Vladimir Dmitriyev said the statement was painfully reminiscent in style to the speeches made back in the Soviet era at gatherings of the Communist Party of the U.S.S.R.

“But back then there was a single-party system,” said Dmitriyev said. “This statement is indeed a provocation.”

Although both factions criticized the statement, Just Russia found itself in an especially tricky situation. Pressure on its members was acute given the consistent and unequivocal support that Just Russia has given the president in the past.

In the absence of genuine political competition, the pro-Kremlin party, United Russia, heavily dominates the political landscape. And its critics claim that it routinely harnesses Russia’s entire administrative machine, its organization, funding, staff and transport, to work in its electoral interests. The term “administrative resources” describes this phenomenon.

According to Georgy Satarov, head of the Moscow-based anti-corruption think-tank INDEM, “administrative resources” have become the main instrument of political campaigning in Russia. He sees the placing by United Russia of President Putin’s name at the top of its party list of candidates for the Duma, announced in October, as the ultimate political misuse of such publicly funded resources.

“In this context it is hard to expect an objective ruling on this case from a Russian court but we are prepared to go through all stages of the process, up to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg,” Vishnevsky said.