Moscow Election Cleared of Rodina
Moscow City Court banned Rodina (Motherland) party from taking part in the Moscow Duma’s election slated for December 4. The actual reason of the award, the experts say, is not the laws violation but rather the party’s popularity with voters, which can become even higher, should the Supreme Court restore Rodina in the list of candidates.
The process against Rodina was well staged and promptly held. LDPR went to the law Thursday, November 24, 2005, charging it with propaganda abuse (“Clear our city!” ad spot and similar leaflets), bribing the voters (by distributing caps and flags with the party’s logo near subway stations) and abuse of the office – promotion leaflets, “Ask Rodina,” give office telephone numbers of Viktor Volkov’s aides. Volkov leads Rodina in the Moscow Duma and is scored the third in the party list.
On the same day, the Moscow City Election Committee, which had been waiting for the prosecutors’ conclusion concerning the “Clear our city!” spot for three weeks, independently decided that the spot really stirs national hatred. The court held preliminary hearing Friday with the award taken already on Saturday. Rodina’s spokesmen were served with official summons in two hours after the start of the trial.
The judge needed no more than half an hour to uphold LDPR and Moscow City Election Committee by results of the trial viewed as a farce by Rodina leader Dmirty Rogozin. The award, Rogozin said, was taken under the pressure of Moscow authorities on fears of Rodina's competition with United Russia party.
Rodina may get around 14 percent at the Moscow Duma’s election December 4, 2005, according to Levada Center, vs. the 43 percent to be won by United Russia. The close polls give even a narrower gap, said a source with the Moscow City Hall.
Rodina is just a pawn in the cunning games played by Luzhkov’s team and the Kremlin, said Sergey Baburin, leader of People’s Will party and former election ally of Rodina. “Luzhkov has removed Rodina, the Kremlin will restore it at election via the Supreme Court in the next move,” Baburin said, adding Rodina will ultimately “get much more” than estimated today.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 28, 2005
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