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Analyst Alexander Karavayev: There is no threat of orange revolution in Russia

12 December 2011 10:37 (UTC +04:00)

Moscow. Farid Akbarov â€“ APA. The results of the State Duma elections caused protests in the Russian society. The victory of the ruling United Russia party made the opposition forces more active. The opposition staged rally in the Bolotny square in Moscow on December 10. The protesters demanded the cancel of the results of the voting and resignation of the chairman of the Central Election Commission Vladimir Churov. According to the official bodies, 25 000, according to media 35 000 participated in the rally, the protesters said they were 50 000 â€“ 85 000.

â€œThe December 4 elections are gratifying neither for the ruling party, nor for the Russian people,â€ Alexander Karavayev, analyst of the Moscow State Universityâ€™s Centre for the Study of Socio-Political Processes in the Post-Soviet Space, told APAâ€™s Moscow correspondent. He said the United Russia party is not so popular now.
â€œIt has many reasons. Firstly, the United Russia did not organize the election campaign well enough. Secondly, we should not forget that deputy chief of the Presidential Administration Vladislav Surkov said last year that the United Russia party would not cross the 50-percent barrier. The Kremlin knew the results beforehand, but did not take concrete steps,â€ he said.

Alexander Karavayev said the United Russia party sent the second-rate and third-rate representatives to the debates with the opposition leaders.
â€œThe people were irritated as the ruling party remained indifferent and party officials did not respond to the important issues. The result is obvious. I think A Just Russia party and Communist party got more votes compared to the previous years, not because they are popular, but because the people protested against the United Russia party,â€ he said.

According to the political analyst, the results of the parliamentary elections show that presidential candidate from the United Russia party Vladimir Putin will have to make special efforts before the elections. â€œThe results of the State Duma elections make it inevitable for Vladimir Putin to address the people in the presidential elections with the real program, not with theses. The parties will unite in the different alliances in new Duma and it will create a real government crisis risk. If there is a real program, these alliances can not threaten the government with a crisisâ€.

Karavayev said that the street actions against the results of the parliamentary elections in Russia were the protest by a few people. â€œThere is no threat of orange revolution in Russiaâ€.

â€œThe results of the State Duma elections were expected and legitimateâ€, Director of the Constructive Policy Fund Abdul Nagiyev told APAâ€™s correspondent. He said what happened in Russia today couldnâ€™t be seen from the level of multiyear European and US democracy. â€œIn the context of the 20-year-old democracy, the December 4 elections are a progress. Some ruling parties and the governments in the European countries lost their leading position in 2011 due to the global financial-economic crisis. But it was different in Russia. The United Russia party managed to save its leading position despite that it couldnâ€™t gain constitutional majority. It is very important, because the United Russia party is the basic element of the Russiaâ€™s modern political system. There is no another political force in Russia to compete with this party. But the coalition of the United Russia with other parties is logical. This is a democratic principle. Undoubtedly the United Russia will be inclined to create alliance with A Just Russia partyâ€.