Russia Presidential Election 2012: possible outcomes and consequences for the world

Prapor

Active member
While we still don't know whether it will be Putin or Medvedev or both running for President in 2012, which of them will matters little, since if either runs and wins, the Tandem stays for another 6 years regardless

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that he and President Dmitry Medvedev do not exclude the possibility of joining the presidential race in 2012.
There has been vast speculation about Putin and Medvedev's plans for 2012. Medvedev, an ally of Putin, was put forward as a presidential candidate in 2008 because Putin could not run for a third consecutive presidential term. The situation has changed and the two allies might end up in a face-off at the elections.
"Neither me nor Dmitry... have ruled this out that each of us could be a candidate in the race," Putin told reporters. "We will proceed from the real situation closer to the elections."
He said the decision would have to be made at some point but it was too early now.
"If we make any erroneous indications now, half of the administration and over a half of the government would stop working in anticipation of some kind of changes," the premier said.
"Everyone must sit at his desk day in and day out and 'hoe their field' like St. Francis," Putin said. "We have 143 million people in our country, and cannot afford any disruptions."
He said this was his piece of mind and he wanted to pass it to his colleagues in the government.
MOSCOW, April 13 (RIA Novosti)
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20110413/163516519.html

So, Putin says he may run. And Medvedev who was in Hainan for the BRICS summit (it's Brazil, Russian, India, China, South Africa now, by the way) was interviewed by a Chinese reporter who asked him if he will run in 2012, and he said he'll make a decision soon

MOSCOW - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will decide soon whether to run for re-election in 2012, local news agencies reported, citing an interview the president gave to Chinese news media.
"I don't rule out that I will run for a new term as president. The decision will be taken in the short term, because, as you probably know, less than a year is left," Medvedev is quoted as saying ahead of the summit in China this week, Interfax news agency reported.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-ma...to-decide-soon-on-2012-re-election-bid-report

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Who will it be?

Another thing, about how democratic Russia is, in the media here, no other candidates are even discussed, at least yet.

So, I will do that for them.

First.

Gennady Zyuganov
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General-Secretary of the Communist Party of Russian Federation, number two by seats and main opposition party in the Duma
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gennady_Zyuganov

Vladimir Zhirinovsky
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Head of Liberal-Democratic Party (also known as KGB Party, as founded by "former" agents and officers of the fine organization who still make up a large percentage of its membership), 3d in the Duma
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Zhirinovsky

Those two naturally run as 'other two' in every election.

Then, there are the possible 'dark horses', those whom the Kremlin does not have any sort of understanding with, whom it fears

Eduard Limonov is one
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68 years old. Married, two children, Bogdan and Aleksandra.
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Leader of (banned) National Bolshevik Party.
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Has enormous youth support. Aware of and uses his physical likeness to Lev Trotsky to win over his audiences. Great orator.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduard_Limonov

Says he intends to go for President in 2012
http://www.mosgorteplo.com/en/a2978.html

Millions of young boys and girls in schools across Russia joined the underground National Bolshevik movement back in the early and mid-2000s. In 2012, many of those will turn 18 and become eligible to vote.

he NBP is quite clear what they want
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RUSSIA WITHOUT PUTIN

If they rig the election again, these guys will take it to the streets, just like in Egypt.
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Recently stormed a army conscription office in Moscow and held it for a couple hours, demanded no more forced military service
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And a couple years back, a large group of young National Bolsheviks landed on Damansky island on Amur river, protesting its being ceded to China in a new border agreement (that finally divided the islands after centuries of disputes). They were arrested by Chinese border guards and handed off to Russian police on our side of the border, hopefully that will be that.

National Bolshevism has a lot of influence here though. Their website, http://nazbol.ru/ the government cannot shut down, as they keep jumping from proxy server to proxy server to avoid detection. It is regularly visited by many thousands of users.

Their newspaper, Limonka, though banned in 2002, is regularly published illegally online (http://limonka.nbp-info.com/) and copies are mass printed in underground typographies and sneaked into schools and higher education facilities (colleges, universities)
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They are like our version of America's Tea Party, I guess. Only, for young people. If they should take over, Russia will sharply move away from the West. Their ideology is Communism mixed with Fascism and Russian nationalism.
 
Another notable figure is Yuri Shevchuk
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Rock star. 53 years old. Father, Yulian Shevchuk, Ukrainian by ethnicity, Red Army veteran, lives in Ufa, Bashkortostan; mother, Fania Gareeva, Tatar by ethnicity, awarded medal for 'Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945', currently lives with Yuri, and his wife, Mariana Polteva, in Saint Petersburg, helps care for their two children. Also he has a elder son from a previous marriage who is 19 years old and is currently serving in the Naval Infantry Forces (Russian Marines). Maternal grandfather was a faithful Muslim, even a Mullah (Islamic scholar) according to some sources, died in the Repressions in the 30s. Shevchuk himself is Orthodox Christian, observant one, goes to church regularly.

Shevchuk is famous for his anti-Putin tirade during a concert a year ago, and then also clashing with him face-to-face.
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MTA2OTMyMjY5Ng==
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrpoFzBbyMU"]Shevchuk anti-Putin speech[/ame]
http://www.globalpost.com/webblog/russia-and-its-neighbors/shevchuk-the-anti-putin

He is also respected for an incident during filming of Factory of Stars, Russia's American Idol-type show, where he was on the jury. Another juror, Filip Kirkorov, Russia's "King of Pop"
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was insulting a young female contestant, throwing all sorts of obscenities at her, commenting on her body shape, etc. And Shevchuk stood up next to him, finally, and told him that he is a 'uncultured, ill-mannered, good for nothing swine who has no place on stage, let alone on this jury. Either shut your mouth or I will do it for you.' And they did actually scuffle later, in the hallway outside, after Kirkorov tried to come after him for revenge. Got a bloody nose out of that. lol

While he has not yet voiced any intention to run for President, his fans are almost demanding it, posters like this are all over the internet and on the streets
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'The Government are liars, they don't give a damn about us! So, our choice must be Yuri Shevchuk! 2012'

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'Yuri Shevchuk for President!'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Shevchuk

Well, Shevchuk is a veteran dissident. Back in the 70s and 80s he was one of the founders of the Rock Against the System movemnt, among with such titans of Russian rock as Andrei Makarevich and his band Machina Vremeni (Time Machine)
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Yuri Antonov
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Vyacheslav Butusov
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All those hugely famous and respected musicians and activists have said they would support a Shevchuk candidacy.

And internationally, he is friends with U2's Bono who, in a Moscow concert in August of 2010 invited Shevchuk on stage to sing with him, days after he (Shevchuk) was detained by police at a opposition rally
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3ul7WgyIZU&feature=related"]Shevchuk and Bono in Moscow[/ame]

Bono expressed his admiration for Shevchuk by saying ‘We are his pupils.’
http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2010/bono_khimki

If he runs, I will vote for him. Great man, all around. Great music, great political and social views.
 
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