Russia: Candidates Reveal Plans and Platforms

Charlene Keeler/ 1 February 2008/ 12:42pm/ Political relations

Candidates Reveal Plans and Platforms
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2008/02/01/012.html

Communist party leader, Zyuganov, who said last week that he might drop out of the election, announced that he would take part in televised debate. Deputy leader of the Communist party, Melnikov, said that it was to attain as much exposure for the party “under the current difficult conditions.” However, the favorite candidate, Medvedev, has refused to participate, and is the only candidate to do so. Liberal Democratic Party leader Zhirinovsky spoke Thursday at the Carnegie Moscow Center and gave a very charismatic performance according to a think tank analyst, Sidarenko. Sidarenko said that despite the fact that his entire platform is contradictory. For example, “he wants to lower taxes, but raise pensions, or give businesses complete freedom while demanding that the government take a minimum stake in all large companies.” The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia(LDPR) said that Zhirinovsky was the only of the four candidates who actually wanted to become president, the others being described as “puppets.”
Also, according to the Elections Commission, the Democrat Party leader, Bogdanov was removed from the ballot after reports that some of his signatures had been forged. A criminal investigation was opened after this discovery. Also, former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has been refused a place on the ballot after discovery that 13 percent of his signatures were invalid.

It’s official, Kasyanov has been dismissed. Now all pressure is on Zhirinovsky and the other candidates. I still don’t know what is going on with Zyuganov. Last week he said that he might drop out of the election, but now he will be taking part in televised debates. Thus implying that he’s still in the race. Medvedev, on the other hand, who is not taking part in the debates, has nothing against him in the race. He still remains favorite for the election because he was approved of by Putin. Zhirinovsky’s performance at the Carnegie Moscow Center implies that he is very serious about this race for the presidency, but does not know how to properly go about it. By being so contradictory, he might be making everyone happy by saying it, but in practice it would be very difficult to fulfill such promises. If Bogdanov’s investigation goes the way Kasyanov’s did, there may be only three candidates for next month’s election.
In regard to the election in general, it seems kind of strange that the candidates have only one or two months to attain the ability to run for president as well as put forth their platforms. It is also such a short time for people to make a decision. Regardless of the fact that Medvedev has majority support because of his support from Putin, it still seems like such a short time.

Current Candidates for the Russian Presidency
Zhirinovsky, Medvedev, Bogdanov, Zyuganov