Over 40 years ago, when I first became eligible to vote, an older friend explained how Soviet elections worked: "God showed Eve to Adam, and asked him to choose a bride." Ahead of Sunday's presidential elections in democratic Russia, voters are confronted with the same kind of "choice" — only, in this instance, Vladimir Putin gets to play both the Almighty and the First Woman.
The Central Electoral Committee threatens to punish those calling to boycott the vote under Article 141 of the Russian Criminal Code that means up to five years in jail.. But as a law-abiding Russian citizen, I still have the right to explain why I myself am boycotting the poll, the results of which were known months in advance. The elections cannot be fair, since the entire administrative might of the country has been mobilized in support of one candidate. The media gives the designated victor exclusive coverage, and the token opponents are no more than sparring partners.
Consider the non-Putin presidential candidates:
Sergei Mironov, chairman of the Federation Council is running against Putin on the ticket of supporting Putin.
Irina Khakamada is running on the claim that she represents the democratically-minded electorate — who disowned her loud and clear in the December Duma elections, in which Khakamada and her Union of the Right Forces party suffered miserable failure.
The rabble-rouser Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the misleadingly titled Liberal-Democratic party, has fielded his bodyguard — much to the amusement of the voting public.
The communists have fielded a lackluster Nikolai Kharitonov, who had led his own Agrarian party out of political existence before he joined the Communist ticket.
After the leftist-nationalist Sergei Glazyev, first encouraged by the Kremlin as a convenient token opponent, turned into a loose cannon, he was tossed out of his own Duma faction.
Still, the Kremlin needs these no-hopers to give the Putin coronation a veneer of legitimacy. It would never do to have Putin elected by 99.8% of the vote — we are not Turkmenistan, thank God! No, better to have him win with 70% to 73% of the vote, dividing the rest among the also rans and those who vote "against all the above."
But casting my ballot "against all" would mean that I recognize the election as legitimate. Claiming an absentee voter ballot and not voting amounts to the same thing — and isn't it plainly cowardly pretending to vote when you don't? The only acceptable option for me is staying at home.
I suspect a lot of Russians will do just that. And that worries the regime. Reports are coming in from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok, of military brass ordering their subordinates to show up and vote "the right way, or else"; of students, threatened with expulsion if they stay away; of civil servants, threatened with "problems"; even of medical patients, asked to produce their absentee voter ballots as a condition for hospitalization. The regime seems to be seriously concerned about a turnout under 50%, which would render the presidential election invalid and disqualify all the runners meaning they would not be allowed to run again. Hence, the predicted official figures of a 60% turnout.
The experience of previous elections shows that the regime will have it its way. But even if our erstwhile democratic leaders failed, and credible new ones have not emerged, we still have the right not to vote — and not to take part in this shameless charade. That's why I'm staying home on Sunday. In Russian, "vote" is the same word as "voice." I'm not giving the regime my voice, lest I stay voiceless forever.
Cooking The Rotten Apples [Sep. 04, 2003]
How do you tackle extortion in a country where it's part of the landsape? Put a tax on it.
Going For The Moguls [July 20, 2003]
Russia's richest man and largest oil firm are under investigation. Has the Kremlin declared open season on the oligarchs?
The News: It's All Good [[July 18, 2003]
Russian news programmes have a disturbingly familiar tone
Living on a Powder Keg [Feb. 7, 2003]
The forgotten link between Chechen terrorism and the war in Chechnya
From Russia, with Hate [Apr. 15, 2002]
With skinheads and neo-Nazis on the rise, the country is bracing for a wave of xenophobic attacks
Mogadishu at 60 Miles an Hour Arms merchants are once again doing brisk business after a rapid change of power in this tough town, but so far the peace has held
The Year of The Nuke A rundown of the world's nuclear powerhouses, and what to expect in the coming months
Indicates premium content
Sergei Mironov, chairman of the Federation Council is running against Putin on the ticket of supporting Putin.
Premium Content
