#4
The Globe and Mail (Canada)
21 December 1999
Kremlin gloats with triumph at poll results
An efficient media campaign strikes chill
into the hearts of observers and critics
By GEOFFREY YORK
Moscow Bureau
Moscow -- The Kremlin gloated over its election triumph yesterday, but
critics said the parliamentary vote was a disturbing demonstration that the
Russian government's weapons are lethal enough to destroy any opponent.
By demolishing its most despised rival in Sunday's vote, the Kremlin
strengthened the presidential chances of its favoured candidate, Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin, now the clear front-runner in the race to succeed
Boris Yeltsin as president next summer.
Sunday's results also give the Kremlin a much improved chance of wresting
control of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, from the Communists
and other opposition parties who have dominated it for the past six years.
With 84 per cent of the vote counted yesterday, the Kremlin's newly created
Unity party had captured a remarkable 23 per cent, just slightly behind the
first-place Communists, who had 24 per cent.
It was a stunning performance by a party that did not even exist until three
months ago. Unity had no detailed election platform, no economic program, and
virtually nothing to offer voters except Mr. Putin's endorsement -- yet it
soared to the top of the polls.
"This is a colossal breakthrough," Kremlin spokesman Igor Shabdurasulov told
reporters yesterday. "A revolution has taken place, a peaceful one but a
revolution all the same."
The results are extremely important for the presidential election next June,
he said. "The parliamentary election clearly indicates the likely winner of
the presidential poll: Putin."
The Kremlin's bitterest enemy, the OVR coalition, wilted under the pressure
of a vicious media campaign by Mr. Yeltsin's television allies. It finished a
poor third in the election, more than 10 points behind Unity, and may have
lost its hopes of mounting a challenge for the presidency.
Although the Communists will remain the biggest party in the Duma, their
influence will decline drastically. Mr. Putin could forge a working majority
on some issues by cobbling together pro-Kremlin parties and other moderates.
The biggest loser in the election was former prime minister Yevgeny Primakov,
who declared his presidential ambitions just last week.
His coalition, Fatherland-All Russia, known by the acronym OVR, had emerged
as the biggest threat to Mr. Yeltsin's political supremacy in years. Many
members of Russia's federal and regional elites defected to OVR. But the
Kremlin's TV channels launched a ruthless campaign against OVR during the
election and the coalition fell into third place, gaining less than 13 per
cent of Sunday's vote.
The results suggest that the Kremlin can wield its political weapons,
primarily the TV channels, to produce almost any result it desires. Most
Russians outside the major cities are entirely dependent on the
state-controlled channels for their political information, and Kremlin
strategists do not hesitate to exploit this advantage to boost their
favourite political parties and destroy others.
The channels gave vast amounts of positive publicity to three parties loyal
to the Kremlin: the Unity party, created in September to siphon votes from
OVR; the Union of Right-Wing Forces, known as SPS; a coalition of young
reformers and liberals with Kremlin connections, led by former prime minister
Sergei Kiriyenko; and the ultranationalist party of Vladimir Zhirinovsky,
which cultivates a maverick reputation but in reality has consistently
supported the Kremlin in key parliamentary votes.
The results were exactly what the Kremlin wanted. While OVR crumbled under
the media attacks, Unity gained 23 per cent and SPS captured a healthy 9 per
cent of the vote. Mr. Zhirinovsky drew 6 per cent and will remain in the Duma
as a loyal government supporter despite his incendiary rhetoric.
"All three parties got a lot of administrative and financial support from the
Kremlin in the campaign," said Andrei Piontkovsky, a political analyst in
Moscow.
"Zhirinovsky and Kiriyenko were on TV screens all the time. This was part of
the deal: 'You support the government and we give you the government's
resources.' It was a cynical campaign, but it demonstrates the efficiency of
the Kremlin's information technology."
Foreign observers criticized the media bias. "The pre-election period was
marked by a campaign in which candidates and the media waged negative attacks
on their opponents, often crossing the line to slander and libel," said a
preliminary report yesterday by the election observers from the Organization
for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Government officials also harassed opposition candidates by intimidating them
with "extraordinary tax inspections, administrative fines and criminal
investigations that were subsequently proven groundless," the OSCE observers
noted.
Nevertheless, they said the election was another step toward democracy in
Russia.
Grigory Yavlinsky, leader of a liberal opposition party called Yabloko, said
the results, especially the dramatic rise of Unity, are a testament to the
power of the Kremlin's strategists.
"They declared, 'We can do anything we want. We only need a few oligarchs,
several TV channels, and we shall do whatever we want. We can make anyone
president; we can create any structure or any Duma, anything.' What we are
witnessing is proof of that."
Although the Communists topped the polls, they failed to make any significant
improvement over their 1995 showing.
Mr. Putin was the biggest winner in the election, although he wasn't
officially a candidate. His popularity has soared as a result of his tough
policy on the war in Chechnya.
"As a primary for the presidential election, it was a fantastic victory for
Putin," Mr. Piontkovsky said. "For the first time, a majority of the Duma
will be pro-government."
Because of the political benefits of the Chechnya war, Mr. Putin may try to
keep it going for another six months, Mr. Piontkovsky said. "The war will
become even more ferocious. He needs it for his presidential campaign."
