Putin Wins, Chavez loses
Putin's victory is leaving a lot of people feeling that Russia is slipping into it's old Soviet-style government.
The victory paves the way for Putin to remain Russia's de facto leader even after he leaves office next spring. On Monday, Putin described the weekend's election as a vote of confidence in him.
"I headed the United Russia ticket and, of course, it's a sign of public trust," Putin said in televised remarks.
Not exactly.
Garry Kasparov said that Russia’s election were the "dirtiest" in the nation's history.
"There are no illusions that what is being called elections was the most unfair and dirtiest in the whole history of modern Russia," Kasparov said at a news conference, pointing at reports of massive vote violations.
"We fully realize that it's useless to seek the truth in Russian courts," he added.
Kasparov, who heads the Other Russia coalition of opposition groups, was arrested and jailed for five days for leading a protest rally in Moscow on Nov. 24. His group was not allowed to run for parliament.
The US isn't impressed either.
The United States on Sunday urged Russia to investigate claims of election day violations, after partial results showed President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party had won 63.6 percent of the vote.
"Early reports from Russia include allegations of election day violations. We urge Russian authorities to investigate these claims," said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
The Russian opposition has vowed to challenge what it said were widespread vote violations after early official results showed Putin's United Russia Party had won a huge majority in Sunday's parliamentary polls.
In contrast, wanton anti-American socialist Hugo Chavez lost his election to become President For Life.
Humbled by his first electoral defeat ever, President Hugo Chavez said Monday he may have been too ambitious in asking voters to let him stand indefinitely for re-election and endorse a huge leap to a socialist state.
"I understand and accept that the proposal I made was quite profound and intense," he said after voters narrowly rejected the sweeping constitutional reforms by 51 percent to 49 percent.
Opposition activists were ecstatic as the results were announced shortly after midnight - with 88 percent of the vote counted, the trend was declared irreversible by elections council chief Tibisay Lucena.
Some shed tears. Others began chanting: "And now he's going away!"
Foes of the reform effort - including Roman Catholic leaders, media freedom groups, human rights groups and prominent business leaders - said it would have granted Chavez unchecked power and imperiled basic rights.
Chavez told reporters at the presidential palace that the outcome of Sunday's balloting had taught him that "Venezuelan democracy is maturing." His respect for the verdict, he asserted, proves he is a true democratic leader.
"From this moment on, let's be calm," he proposed, asking for no more street violence like the clashes that marred pre-vote protests. "There is no dictatorship here."
I'm not sure what the difference between President For Life and dictator is...perhaps Castro could explain it to us.
Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Mark My Words, Rosemary's Thoughts, Adam's Blog, The Bullwinkle Blog, The Amboy Times, Leaning Straight Up, Big Dog's Weblog, Chuck Adkins, Conservative Cat, Pursuing Holiness, DragonLady's World, The World According to Carl, Pirate's Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Right Voices, and Stageleft, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
