TOPIC OF THE DAY: THE QUESTIONNAIRE PREPARED BY ALEXANDER SARGIN.
LEONTY VYZOV, member of the scientific council at the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM).
The party system is continuing to degrade. However, there is no evil plot behind the process, even if there is evident pressure. A transformation of the political system is underway: people see no point in opposition parties. They demonstrate such impotence, such an obvious inability to come to power or at least to influence the course of events that even those people who share their ideas and support their slogans see no reason why they should vote for them.
Those parties which have seats in the State Duma but are not among the four leading parties have no chance at all, and there is even a risk of the current system degenerating into a two-party system. However, with only Communists and the United Russia party in the State Duma (as is the case with the Moscow city Duma), the system would be far from a genuine two-party one. The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) is a real nuisance and generates very few new ideas. The Just Russia party has failed to become an independent political force, except for several regions where it has managed to install strong leaders and overcome the intra-elite divisions. The same applies to other parties, including rightist parties like Yabloko which showed a poor performance even in Moscow, the traditional arena of its political activity. All this shows that the old political party system that evolved in the 1990s and has continued in Russia since then, is outliving its usefulness: it can no longer perform its main function - to promote political competition.
OLGA KRYSHTANOVSKAYA, director of the Institute of Applied Politics and department head at the centre for the study of elites at the Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences.
There can be no talk of any falsification [of the election results] for none has been proved so far. Concrete facts are needed, and if there are none, I am inclined to think that the election results are correct and, therefore, the parties have got what they deserve. As regards the Just Russia and LDPR deputies' demarche at the Duma, this is part of our political culture. The losers always protest by staging a sort of "bleak-orange revolution." We carried out surveys in the regions asking people whether there were parties that meet their interests. It is true that many people are dissatisfied and complain that everything is bad. People either say that they don't support any party or mention the United Russia party. This shows that Mr Putin's rating is not falling, instead, despite the crisis it remains high. However, his rating is, to a great extent, synonymous with that of United Russia. This means that people vote in support of Mr Putin's policies.
VALERY FADEYEV, director of the Institute of Social Projects, chairman of the Public Chamber commission on Economic Development and Entrepreneurship.
The election results are very logical, natural and largely in line with the results of the preliminary surveys.
As regards the parliamentary parties' mutiny in parliament, I can say that certain procedures are in place and when Mr Churov [Chairman of the Central Election Commission] says that there have not been any complaints, he is not lying. It is true, there have not been any complaints but each case must be taken seriously. However, the really outrageous incident in Derbent is one matter and the Astrakhan case is another. In the first case, the parties have no complaints because both candidates for mayor of Derbent are from the United Russia party and the matter concerns a fight between different groupings in Dagestan. In the second case, all the pre-election surveys, the results of which have been published, showed that Mr Shein was losing. Whether the election law was violated or not is for the court to decide. As for the Communists' dissatisfaction with the election results in Mari El, this is an old story. They had serious financial backing there since there is no ban on sponsoring this country's political processes. However, it did not work. This means that the election results reflect today's realities and traditions that have evolved in Russia to date.
ALEXEI MUKHIN, director general of the Political Information Centre.
True, the United Russia party succeeded in attaining its goal by using administrative resource directly and almost transparently. Just Russia, which hoped for a 50:50 split of administrative resource with United Russia, fell short of expectations, receiving what it deserved.
Considering the Russian people's concerns during the crisis period, the LDPR and Yabloko could have performed much better, but, judging by all apparent signs, their votes go to United Russia. The Communist Party, as a convenient sparring partner to United Russia, has also got its fair share, but its result was predetermined and reflected the party's real situation.
Alexander Sargin
