Image Source: Inquisitr.com


BY MILA MIMICA
 

 

The leader of an election monitoring group in Russia was detained for 12 hours Friday -- just days before a parliamentary election set for Sunday. The BBC has the story.

“Golos leader Lilya Shibanova (Pronouncer) was held at Moscow's main airport after refusing to hand over her laptop ‘for checking.’ By Friday, [the group] had recorded over 5,000 complaints related to Sunday's election, many involving the politically dominant United Russia, which is chaired by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin."

Those complaints make the detainment all the more mysterious. Public opinion polls conducted by non-governmental organizations like Golos show that public support for the ruling party, United Russia, is wavering. Al-Jazeera spoke with a Russian journalist.  

“The industry and the agriculture lay in ruins. The corruption has skyrocketed. Never before in my life in Russia the general feeling inside the country was so bloody hopeless.”

Putin, now prime minister, previously served as president for eight years, and will be seeking a six-year term as president in March. According to the New York Times, United Russia’s losses show dwindling support for Putin.

“Though United Russia, which now has a commanding majority in Parliament, faces no powerful competitors in the election, opinion polls suggest that it will lose 50 to 60 seats, reflecting growing weariness with leadership that has not changed in a decade. State officials at all levels have been told to guard against significant losses.”

Time magazine says the election could result in notable changes in the party’s decade-long rule.

“Independent pollster Levada Center said last week that United Russia will receive 53 percent of the vote, down from the 64 percent it got in the 2007 vote. This would deprive the pro-Kremlin behemoth of the two-thirds majority that has allowed it to amend the constitution.”

And The Independent reports United Russia supporters will attempt to make their voices heard on election day through protests.

“A poor showing for United Russia tomorrow will increase worries that Mr. Putin's return to the Kremlin will not pass off as smoothly as planned. The pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi has said it will bus in about 15,000 young activists, who will parade in central squares and demonstrate their support for Mr Putin and United Russia.”