• Greenleaf [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      8 months ago

      Leftist parties (socialist and socdem) were doing so well in the Duma after the collapse of the USSR and the Russians got a taste of capitalism that Yeltsin - with the backing of the US - in a metaphorical but also very literal sense - attacked the legislative branch and consolidated all functional power in the executive. Again, with US backing. Putin is just using the levers of power than Yeltsin and Clinton handed to him.

      • Frank [he/him, he/him]@hexbear.net
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        8 months ago

        Word. The USSR didn’t collapse. It went down fighting and the capitalists had to stage a series of coups to finish it off, only to lose it to a slightly more capable capitalist.

  • CarbonScored [any]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    It’s not that I think Russia is a free and fair democracy, it’s clearly filled with corruption like all liberal democracies. it’s just the misinformation about why and the utter hypocrisy and -100 self-awareness on criticising it.

    • Navalny was never that popular, nore were any of the opposition members who were “banned” (for allegedly forging signatures). Nobody contests this, just western media like to act as if he mattered at all, and will never dare admit that the real opposition to Putin is commies (even if name only).
    • Russia has not banned any of the actually major opposition parties, while Ukraine actually has explicitly banned almost all opposition.
    • Acting like it’s not common practice in all western democracies to deny people from being listed on ballots due to bureaucratic technicalities. They all do it.
    • Putin’s vote share does actually line up with widely accepted polls of his popularity. Russia is a country at war with a 1/6th of the world, the West, so it’s little surprise to have an especially high rate now.

    My constant reaction to libs arguing Putin is Hitler is “Sure whatever, now admit the state of democracy in your western country is about the same or worse and how that is the problem, Putin isn’t special.”

    • EmmaGoldman [she/her, comrade/them]@hexbear.netM
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      8 months ago

      Acting like it’s not common practice in all western democracies to deny people from being listed on ballots due to bureaucratic technicalities. They all do it.

      There are like 2 dozen candidates in the 2024 US general presidential election who will not be listed on any ballots for far less legitimate reasons. Candidates get dropped because they would make the list too long.

    • axont [she/her, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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      8 months ago

      I’m pretty sure the average liberal thinks this was supposed to be an election between Navalny and Putin. That’s how misinformed they are.

      You’re also right. Putin is massively popular in Russia at a level libs can’t seem to comprehend. The only major opposition he has involve the communists, but they mostly align with Putin’s foreign policy anyway. Most polls show Putin with a 85% approval rating and libs will always think numbers like that are unfair or fabricated.

      • Frank [he/him, he/him]@hexbear.net
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        8 months ago

        I’m uncertain if American libs can even conceptualize the idea of a popular government with broad public support. They seem to think that winning more than 55% of votes means the election was rigged and that if a government has an approval rating about 30% they’re faking the poles.

    • tocopherol@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      8 months ago

      “Sure whatever, now admit the state of democracy in your western country is about the same or worse and how that is the problem, Putin isn’t special.”

      Hey wait but isn’t that almost a whataboutism??? CHECKMATE TANKIE

  • blobjim [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    “Lack of credible opposition”

    (According to his Wikipedia article, Kharitonov even quit in the previous political party he was in because it became part of United Russia)

  • SoyViking [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    If only Russians had a real choice between Putin and 101% Putin it would have been a wholesome freedom democracy like in the west.

  • What_Religion_R_They [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    The funniest part is if you look online at news of people queuing at the Russian embassies to vote, it’s always interspersed with mentions of how they’re actually “protests” and how everyone there is turning out to write-in Navalny (LOL). Like, no, it’s obviously cherrypicked examples to align with your country’s position on Russia.

    In our country the queue outside the embassy was ginormous, and there are videos of it being shared on social media but no news covering it at all.

  • MolotovHalfEmpty [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    Every newspaper in Britain is running with the ‘no real opposition’ line on the Russian election.

    While simultaneously talking non-stop about a snap election between the Tories & Labour.

    While also running lots of Tory-soothing stories about how Labour have vowed not to undo Tory policy.

    Beyond parody.

  • SoyViking [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    Westoid media seems to be making a big deal about the lack of “international observers” to the Russian election. When was the last time you heard about official international observers in western elections?

    • GenderIsOpSec [she/her]@hexbear.net
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      8 months ago

      even wikipedia has this about the observers:

      On 14 March, delegations from 36 countries arrived in Russia at the invitation of the Russian Federation Council as foreign observers of the election, who in fact do not represent observer missions but a visitors’ programme.[121][122] On 17 March 2024, the Chair of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation (CEC), Ella Pamfilova, announced that 1,115 international observers and experts from 129 countries were monitoring the electoral process.[123] They included Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan Sikandar Sultan Raja.[124]

      so what the media is actually saying they need to have some kkkrackers there to “observe”

  • zifnab25 [he/him, any]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    In Russia, you are given exactly one option for President and everyone is required to agree that he is the only person fit to lead the country.

    In America, you are given three choices. One of them is a senile baffoon who will most assuredly spell the end of the Republic if he is elected. The other is a throwback to the 1980s who is coasting entirely on name recognition. And the third is a failson without any credible leadership qualities, who simply runs because he doesn’t have anything better to do.

    One of these countries will have 75% election turnout. The other will be lucky to crack 60%. Care to guess which?

  • Frank [he/him, he/him]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    To anglos it is common knowledge that a war-time president who holds off the hated enemy and manages to stabilize the country while somewhat improving or at least maintaining standards of living will be very unpopular and lose elections.