Posted on October 9, 2009 - by Venik

Russian opposition accuses Kremlin of fixing Moscow city election

Election commission bans several of mayor’s opponents from standing as capital goes to the polls

Opposition leaders in Russia have accused the authorities of fixing the forthcoming election for a new city council in Moscow, and claim that all democratic candidates have been kicked off the ballot.

Some 30 million Russians go to the polls on Sunday for regional elections, in the first test of President Dmitry Medvedev’s pledge to make Russia’s electoral system more “competitive”.

But ahead of the poll, critics say that, far from improving under Medvedev, Russia’s democracy has slid backwards. They allege that Moscow’s veteran 73-year-old mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, has manipulated the vote in advance to ensure a landslide victory for his pro-Kremlin United Russia party.

“You can forget about elections in this country,” Boris Nemtsov, the leader of the opposition movement, Solidarity, said. “There are no elections at all.” Asked whether Medvedev had improved Russia’s record, he answered sardonically: “He’s not a president. He’s a famous Russian blogger.”

Russia’s election commission disqualified Nemtsov and other Solidarity candidates from contesting Sunday’s city council vote, claiming that the 5,000 signatures they had each collected to stand in single-mandate districts had been “forged”. “They even told me my own signature was forged,” Nemtsov said. Other parties were also disqualified.

The election comes at a tricky moment for Luzhkov. After more than 17 years in power, his relations with the Kremlin have become increasingly strained. He has also been battered by corruption scandals, with allegations that he helped his wife, the billionaire Yelana Baturina, to become the richest woman in Russia and eastern Europe.

Baturina has been embroiled in a legal struggle against a fellow Moscow property developer, Chalva Tchigirinsky. In documents submitted to the high court in London, Tchigirinsky claimed in May that Baturina secretly co-owned his business – a fact that enabled him to secure highly profitable contracts from Moscow’s Luzhkov-run government. Baturina denies the allegation.

The couple faced further embarrassment when British newspapers reported that Baturina had bought London’s largest private house – a 90-room Grade II-listed mansion in Highgate – for £50m. Baturina says she is not the owner. But opposition activists have plastered pictures of the property on the Moscow metro.

The poll is likely to see the handful of opposition deputies in the current 35-seat United Russia-dominated Duma lose their seats. Western diplomats say there is no evidence to suggest that Medvedev’s frequent appeals – calling on Russia to transform itself into a genuine democracy and progressive society – have had any effect whatsoever.

United Russia activists defied the rain today to hand out copies of a newspaper urging Muscovites to vote for Luzhkov’s party. The paper had a large portrait of Russia’s prime minister, Vladimir Putin, on its front page. Intriguingly, there was no mention anywhere of Medvedev, whom few Russians believe to be the country’s real leader.

Luzhkov is suing Nemtsov after he published a dossier on his website accusing the mayor of corruption. Nemtsov said today that he was not bothered by the writ. He said: “Moscow courts are under Luzhkov’s control. He knows he will win here. But he doesn’t understand we have other places to discuss these things, like in London.”

Critics also accuse the mayor of flattening the Russian capital’s architectural heritage and replacing its historic buildings with tasteless sham replicas. Yesterday, builders knocked down a protected 19th-century building, Deacon’s House, to make way for a block of luxury flats. Luzhkov’s city hall had earlier promised to protect the property.

Original article

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