RUSSIA: LOCAL OFFICIALS, NGOS PREPARE FOR DUMA ELECTIONS

UNCLAS MOSCOW 004140 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV RS SUBJECT: RUSSIA: LOCAL OFFICIALS, NGOS PREPARE FOR DUMA ELECTIONS REF: MOSCOW 3995, MOSCOW 3991 -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) The growing influence of United Russia and the extent to which the ruling party is pre-positioning itself for the December Duma elections was evident in Voronezh during an August 6-8 visit to the region (ref A). While the regional election commission chairman and NGOs described their working relationship as positive, the chairman's recent decision to join United Russia has cast doubt on his objectivity. At least one NGO has dismissed participating in election observations, claiming that the outcome was predetermined. End Summary. -------------- Election Commission Chairman Selyanin -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Vladimir Selyanin has been the chairman of Voronezh Oblast's election commission since 1993. His reputation for fairness was recently questioned by the news that he had joined the United Russia party. He told us that his goal was to increase voter participation from an already respectable 60-65 percent to 75-80 percent in the December Duma elections. He was somewhat dismissive of the new Central Election Commission Chairman Vladimir Churov, who has been criticized for his lack of experience, and said "we will follow the requirements of the law, not what the chairman says." ¶3. (SBU) Selyanin told us that the Voronezh region welcomed election monitors because they are essential in ensuring free and fair elections, and noted that he has had much experience with them in the region. He expressed concern about having "too much of a good thing" by citing an example from the last election where one polling station had 56 monitors watching it. -------------- NGOs and Election Monitors -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Natalia Zvyagina, the regional coordinator of the election-monitoring NGO Golos ("Vote") told us that the Voronezh election commission is an exception in this oblast administration, which has largely been closed off to them. She said that her relationship with Selyanin was good, and that he regularly meets with Golos and other NGOs to explain changes in election law. Russian law currently allows only representatives of political parties and journalists to serve as monitors in the December elections, and, as in other regions throughout Russia, Golos is preparing to publish an election-monitoring "journal" and have its activists monitor the elections as journalists. The downside to this strategy, Zvyagina claimed, is that journalists are only allowed to observe, not to file complaints. ¶5. (SBU) Another NGO representative we met with had no interest in the elections or taking part as a monitor. "What's to monitor? The outcome is already known," stated Andrey Yurov of Youth Human Rights Movement (YHRM). Yurov has recently appealed to a Nizhniy Novgorod court to reverse the de-registration of YHRM (Ref B). -------------- Election Commission Chair Joins United Russia -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Subsequent to our meeting with Election Commission Chairman Selyanin, we were told by several NGO representatives, including Golos, that the chairman had joined United Russia the week before. They suspected that he had been given the choice of joining the dominant party or losing the job that he has held for 14 years. Whether he did it under pressure or of his own volition, they said, still revealed the growing influence of the United Russia party in regional politics. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶7. (SBU) As detailed in Ref A, United Russia dominates the political scene in Voronezh. By adding the regional election commission chairman to their ranks, the party has undermined the integrity of one of the only independent authorities in the region. Whether this will have a practical effect on the election results remains to be seen, but the skepticism that such a maneuver invites damages the credibility of the elections. MELVILLE