cyberdude611
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Elections will occur on Sunday (3/11/07), but many critics of Putin's government claims that the Kremlin has shaped the ballot in a way that has set democracy in Russia back many years. This election has more restrictive election laws, tight government control on media, and a new political party that many say was designed by Putin's United Russia Party in order to give the illusion of opposition.
Those in power "are doing everything they can to stay in power for the next 10-15 years without sufficient support from the voters," said Nikita Belykh, leader of SPS, the liberal Union of Right Forces party.
The new party, Just Russia, is lead by Sergei Mironov. Mironov ran against Putin in 2004. However the west, especially the European Union, saw Mironov as a Putin supporter who only ran against Putin in order to give Putin's certain victory appear more competitive.
Western governments are starting to hold their breath and keep a close eye on Russia as March 2008 is approaching. This is when Putin must leave office according to the Constitution. Many fear he will attempt to put people in power that would allow him to still hold influence. By putting in a second party that will appear to be the opposition but support the same candidates and same issues, the United Russia Party can be assured to hold a monopoly over Russian politics for many, many years. Other opposition parties would basically not be allowed in the process.
Barriers are starting to be set up...such as the cost to put a name on the election ballot. For a party to be added to the ballot, they must pay very high fees. The threshold to gain seats in the parliament has also increased from 5 to 7% of the vote. There is also corruption. Candidates have been rejected from being allowed on the ballot even though they had the required number of signitures. The election officials simply claim the signitures were forged and ban the candidate from the ballot. Mis-information is also used as in Siberia, pamphlets were dropped telling lies to citizens about certain candidates that were running against United Russia.
An official of the liberal Yabloko Party in St. Petersburg, Boris Vishnyevsky, said, "We haven't seen such things before since the Soviet collapse — such impudent, outrageous methods,"
There is also the fact that since Putin took power, at least 14 journalists that criticized United Russia have been found dead under what some say are "mysterious circumstances."
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Democracy in Russia under siege? - 
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