Voters across Russia are going to the polls in parliamentary elections that will set the stage for Vladimir Putin's presidential comeback next year.
The lionised prime minister is experiencing a dip in popularity - as is his ruling party United Russia. But will it be enough to significantly dent his armour?
Vladimir Putin's approval rating is at its lowest in a decade.
The only real demonstration of that came unexpectedly at a mixed martial arts fight.
Putin was booed while congratulating MMA star Fedor Emelianenko
Keen to praise a Russian victory the once untouchable prime minster took to the ring - only to be greeted by boos.
The whole thing was broadcast live on state television which later edited out the booing.
But the internet made sure it was not missed - with the unedited version getting millions of hits on YouTube.
Soon after Putin found safe haven at his own party's conference back in the bosom of an inevitably warm reception. But the damage was done.
A recent independent Levada poll recently put Putin's popularity rating at 61%. Elsewhere that would be high but it is his lowesst figure since 2000.
Polls suggest that could fall to between 253 and 262, which still means victory but the loss of its two thirds majority.
Its desire to keep a grip on power has led to widespread allegations of election violations.
The independent election watchdog Golos has received over 5,000 complaints from across the country of dirty electioneering, many of which involved Mr Putin's party United Russia.
Mr Putin places his vote in the election that he hopes to win
The head of the monitoring group, which is largely funded by the EU and the US, was detained on Saturday after refusing to hand over her laptop.
Liliya Shibanova said officials took her computer at Moscow airport because they claimed it had illegal material on it.
The group's vice president Grigory Milkoyanc told Sky News: "We were expecting an attack like this. Not only our website is being attacked, so are those who report our findings.
"There is great fear that information will spread through social networks."
Golos has now come under pressure from the authorities with calls for its closure.
Political Analyst Masha Lipman says: "There will be, I'm sure, harassment of observers and the Kremlin will report desired results even if they are not as high as they were the previous time.
"As for the Presidential (elections), Putin has no competition. Even with his popularity slightly on the decline he faces no serious challenge this time."
The sense is that generally people are not against Putin - just less supportive of him.
Discontent may be creeping in but the chances are it will have little impact on this election or the crucial presidential vote next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment