RUSSIA: Parliamentary election campaign launch with the first election debates broadcast on Russian television

Record ID: 346416

  • Title: RUSSIA: Parliamentary election campaign launch with the first election debates broadcast on Russian television
  • Date: 9th November 2011
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (NOVEMBER 9, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MOSCOW STREET WITH KREMLIN IN BACKGROUND (3 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) MOSCOW RESIDENT NIKOLAI, SAYING: "I am just curious about what each party has to offer. You should really watch them (the televised debates), not like a movie or a circus, you should understand what is going on. You should understand where the country is going." MOSCOW STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) MOSCOW RESIDENT VICTOR, SAYING: "I don't really (watch the debates). I do it very rarely. Honestly speaking, I am not very interested in these debates, because in the end we already know the results (of the election), we know what's going to happen." STREET WITH ELECTION POSTER READING IN RUSSIAN 'COME AND VOTE' IN BACKGROUND (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) MOSCOW RESIDENT ANNA, SAYING: "I am not interested and it drives me mad. (JOURNALIST ASKS: WHY DOES IT DRIVE YOU MAD?) Because there is chaos in our country. (JOURNALIST ASKING: WILL YOU VOTE?) I probably wont. What's the point in voting if everything is known in advance?" VARIOUS OF 'UNITED RUSSIA' PARTY POSTER IN STREET VARIOUS OF KREMLIN
  • Embargoed: 24th November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAEZ4BXDIEX5XZHM37ULW88RG2T
  • Story Text: Russian election campaign officially kicked off on Tuesday (November 9) with the first party debates broadcast on national television.
    The chairman of Russian United Democratic 'Yabloko' Party, Sergei Mitrokhin, and the representative of 'A Just Russia' party, Oksana Dmitrieva, took an hour of state-run Rossiya TV channel's prime time to present their election programmes for the December parliamentary election that will set the stage for the presidential vote next March.
    In the next month the mainstream parties - the parliament majority 'United Russia', the Communist Party, the Liberal Democratic Party and 'A Just Russia' - will compete to keep their seats in the Russian 450-seat State Duma, the lower house of parliament.
    Both 'Yabloko' and 'A Just Russia' parties, however, were not likely to win the majority in the December vote with the Kremlin-backed "United Russia" still dominating the politics nation-wide.
    Some Moscow residents polled in the street said they would be watching the debates to be aware of the programmes of the political parties running for the State Duma.
    "I am just curious about what each party has to offer. You should really watch them (the televised debates), not like a movie or some circus, you should understand what is going on. You should understand where the country is going," Moscow resident Nikolai said.
    However, some of the Russians tired of the primacy of United Russia, which holds a two-thirds Duma majority, large enough to change the constitution, said they did not and would not watch the debates as they knew the results of the vote in advance.
    "I don't really (watch the debates). Very rarely I do. Honestly speaking I am not very interested in these debates, because in the end we already know the results (of election), we know what's going to happen," Moscow resident Viktor said.
    "I am not interested and it drives me mad. Because there is chaos in our country. More likely I wouldn't (go to vote). What's the point in voting if everything is known in advance?" Moscow resident Anna said.
    With opinion polls and regional elections showing flagging support for the 'party of power', the parliament election is likely to lay a firm base for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the next year's presidential vote.
    Putin remains Russia's most influential and popular leader, crafting an image of a macho leader who has brought economic and political stability after the chaos brought by the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register