Saturday - October 07, 2006

Election ‘08

Hold on tight, gang! We are about to go through two years of “musical chairs” in the West’s leadership. Tony Blair is stepping down next year and the America/Britain alliance in the War On Terror may be in jeopardy. Also next year, Fwance will be having its Presidential elections and Jacques Chirac will be gone, to be replaced by ... who knows? Whoever is elected in Fwance promises to continue the proud Gallic tradition of peeing in the world’s wine glass.

Then in 2008, the two major players go through a turmoil of their own. You all know the US will be electing another President and George W. Bush can finally return to his ranch and a little peace and quiet. What you may not know is that the Russians also have their own little succession question to solve as their Presidential elections in 2008 also take place and Vladimir Putin has expressed a desire to step down.

The nice thing about democracies is that eventually our leaders are replaced and we try something new, unlike the thugocracies in the Middle East and the Third World in general where Dictators, Mullahs, El Presidentes and Kings hang on for life and nothing ever changes. It remains to be seen whether Putin actually does refuse to run again. The future looks cloudy from here. We shall see ...

No Third Term For Putin
_{(PRAVDA) - October 6, 2006}

Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation (CEC RF) today refused to discuss the question of the third presidential term at the nation-wide referendum. This was an expected outcome: all the legal grounds for the refusal aside, it is obvious that the Kremlin is in no need of CEC’s permissions.

It is a known fact that the president mentioned several times not being interested in the third term. And besides, should such a necessity arise he will always have plenty of alternative ways to maintain his political power. Even so a prediction can be made that the closer we come to the year 2008 the more active various political groups would become, including those who lobby for the third presidential term and those who view Putin’s leadership as the best means of securing their own positions.

The proposal to hold a referendum was suggested by the CEC of Central Osetia–Alania, and the question of the proposal takes the following form: “Do you agree or disagree with the fact that the same person cannot hold the presidential post for more than two consecutive terms?” As the CEC RF states that the case according to which no person can hold two consecutive terms as a president can be found in Article 3, Constitution 81 of the Russian Federation. “Therefore the positive response to the question posed for the referendum is already assumed since it only cites the actual constitutional norm,” the CEC’s conclusion claimed. According to the Commission’s view constitutional norms don’t require any further confirmation, especially in the form of a referendum question.

In accordance with the mentioned factors the Commission states that the proposed question cannot be discussed at the national referendum. Liudmila Kuliasova, a member of CEC RF, explained during the discussion process that the referendum decision is accepted when more than 50% vote “for” while the decision is considered not made when the absolute majority votes “against.” This way the decision will not lead to the consequences of judicial nature.

On the other hand Valeriy Gizaev, a representative from the CEC of Central Osetia-Alania, stated that the main goal for the referendum question initiators is to provide the president with a chance to stay for another term or more. “Vladimir Putin will be able to continue the reforms he had begun, he has the strength,” Gizaev continued, “We would like for his administration to continue their work.”

- More on Election ‘08 at Pravda ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 10/07/2006 at 10:03 AM   
Filed Under: • International •  
• Comments (1) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner