Election Alert #4 – How corona thwarts Putin’s plan to change the constitution
The pandemic has interrupted Putin’s fast-track constitutional amendment project that would have allowed him to stay in power beyond 2024. An understanding that his popular support may be waning was likely behind the haste. What started as a fail-proof political project is now an uncertain race against a natural calamity. Whenever the vote will take […]
Russia election alert #3
On January 20, 2020, the president of Russia submitted to the State Duma a draft law on amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. To pass these amendments, authorities have also proposed to call an “all-Russian vote”. These attempts to amend the constitution by calling such a vote instead of through existing legal procedures […]
Election alert # 3 – Constitutional amendments in Russia – risk of a legal chaos
Photo: dw.com On January 20, 2020, the president submitted to the State Duma a draft law on amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation “On improving the regulation of certain issues related to the organization of public power”. The highly controversial draft law has already been approved in the first reading by the […]
Russia election alert #2
More than five thousand elections on different levels were held in Russia on September 8, on the so-called single voting day. The average turnout was 41.2%, which slightly exceeded last year’s turnout. In gubernatorial elections, all candidates designated and supported by the Kremlin have won in the first round. However, in the elections to the […]
Election alert #2 – Outcome of the regional elections and violations encountered by independent observers
Photo: Dmitri Lovetsky/DPA More than five thousand elections on different levels were held in Russia on September 8, on the so-called single voting day. Russian citizens were electing governors of 16 Russian regions, deputies of 13 regional parliaments, mayors of cities, councilors of city and municipal councils. The average turnout was 41.2%, which slightly […]
Russia election alert #1 – Devaluation of election institution ahead of regional elections
Photo: DW/E. Barysheva The situation on the eve of 2019 regional elections shows several important trends. On the one hand, Russian electoral system is becoming extremely politically biased and repressive. On the other, there is growing social demand for participation in decision-making and rising protest activity, including protest vote and participation in street protests. […]
Russia election alert #1
The situation on the eve of 2019 regional elections, 8 September 2019, shows several important trends. On the one hand, Russian electoral system is becoming extremely politically biased and repressive. On the other, there is growing social demand for participation in decision-making and rising protest activity, including protest vote and participation in street protests.
“Strong tendencies to divide Russia’s and Germany’s civil societies”
Picture: picture alliance / dpa / Uwe Zucchi The German public radio station Deutschlandfunk today reported on the perspectives of the German-Russian Petersburg dialogue forum, which is currently taking place near Bonn, Germany. In the report, Petersburg dialogue board member and EPDE Chair Stefanie Schiffer states: “The Petersburg dialogue is an institution which has […]
How should the Council of Europe treat Russia?
imago/imagebroker Stefanie Schiffer speaks in Deutschlandfunk about a threat to the credibility of the Council of Europe if the sanctions against the Russian Delegation are lifted without any improvement of the situation in Crimea and the Donbas. Please find the full interview with Stefanie Schiffer under the following link.
The globalisation of Pro-Kremlin Networks of politically Biased Election observation: the cases of Cambodia and Zimbabwe
Source: https://www.facebook.com/aariikaa/posts/10160611503200317 Executive Summary Due to the fact that the Cambodian authorities banned the main opposition party in 2017, Western states declined to send any observers to monitor the parliamentary elections in Cambodia held on 29 July 2018. On the contrary, for the first time since 2002, Western institutions sent several missions to monitor […]