NOVEMBER 2007

From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng  (Original Message)    Sent: 11/27/2007 3:07 AM

RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADERS DETAINED: IS A CRACKDOWN UNDERWAY?

By Jonas Bernstein

Monday, November 26, 2007

The past week has not been a good one for opponents of President Vladimir Putin’s rule. Police in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and other cities forcibly broke up opposition demonstrations and detained a number of opposition leaders.

The actions followed Putin’s speech to supporters at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium on November 21, in which he accused domestic enemies of trying to make Russia into “a weak and ill state” and “a divided society, in order to do their deeds behind its back.” In an apparent reference to Other Russia, the opposition coalition headed by former chess champion Garry Kasparov that organized the protest marches in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other cities on November 24-25, Putin said those who “will now come out into the streets got a crash course from foreign experts, got trained in neighboring republics, and will try here now.” He added, “Unfortunately, inside the country ...
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Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Analysis: Putin On The Verge Of Resignation?
By Robert Coalson
Australia -- Russian President Vladimir Putin looks at a signing of agreement with Australian Prime Minister in Sydney, 07Sep2007
(AFP)
Reports that Vladimir Putin has prepared a statement to be broadcast to the nation on November 29 have fueled speculation that the message might contain an answer to the "2008 question" -- the president's resignation.

Virtually no details about the Russian leader's prerecorded address have been released, but it is a safe bet that it will focus on the December 2 Duma elections and that he plans to do more than merely urge voters to come to the polls.

Telling is that news of Putin's television statement came as the Federation Council was in the midst of adopting a resolution setting the date of the next presidential election for March 2.

That resolution was adopted on November 26, setting into motion a timetable for the presidential transition. By law, the resolution becomes official when it is published in the ...
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From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng  (Original Message)    Sent: 11/29/2007 7:56 PM
Bear democracy
Publication time: 26 November 2007, 19:22
The history of Russian elections since the twilight days of the Soviet Union.

1991

June: Boris Yeltsin becomes the first popularly-elected president of the Russian Republic, defeating the Communist candidate and former prime minister, Nikolai Ryzhkov. His victory is widely seen as a mandate to counterbalance Mikhail Gorbachev's power as Soviet leader and to further decentralization, democratization, and economic liberalization.

August: Yeltsin's iconic stand atop a Soviet tank during the failed Communist Party putsch against Gorbachev turns him into an emblem of progress.

December: Gorbachev [above] steps down as head of the Soviet Union, heralding its demise.

1993

September: Yeltsin dissolves the parliament and schedules new elections for December, sparking massive political unrest. After rejecting Yeltsin's decree, parliament tries unsuccessfully to impeach him and swears in Vice President Aleksandr Rutskoi as acting president.

October: Thousands take to the streets protesting the dissolution of parliament. Yeltsin declares a state of emergency as armed defenders of the parliament barricade themselves ...
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