Russia’s Medvedev promises investigation on Facebook, gets heckled

I do not agree with any slogans or statements made at the rallies. Nevertheless, instructions have been given by me to check all information from polling stations regarding compliance with the legislation on elections.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev • Ordering an investigation into last week’s parliamentary elections in a Facebook post, one day after wide protests increased the pressure on the Russian government to do something about the issue at hand. Medvedev’s comments led to many negative and downright ugly responses on Facebook, many of them expressing disbelief at his words. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

They showed me on Channel 1 and said I was an opposition leader, which is already a breakthrough. They’re already calling me from Washington and asking what’s going on.
Former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Boris Y. Nemtsov • Discussing how, in a fairly abrupt about-face on Saturday, Russian television started straightforwardly covering the protests against the recent Russian parliamentary elections — including showing Nemtsov (who has since become a major opposition figure and a noted critic of Vladimir Putin) in a relatively neutral light, something which hasn’t happened in roughly a decade. Here’s how one TV anchor, Rossia 1’s Andrei Medvedev, put the events: “Today’s protest was a lesson for everyone. It turns out that, to express your dissatisfaction with the authorities, it is possible to gather on a square after getting permission from those same authorities. And to keep order, all you really have to do is give a polite admonition.” Is it possible that the protests were hard for state-funded Russian television to avoid, since they were so heavily covered on the Internet? A fascinating twist. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

She set the tone for some actors in our country and gave them a signal. They heard the signal, and with the support of the U.S. State Department, began active work.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin • Claiming that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton instigated violent protests in his country by claiming there was evidence of electoral fraud. “The first thing that the secretary of state did was say that they were not honest and not fair,” Putin claimed, “but she had not even yet received the material from the observers.” Clinton responded to Putin’s comments by reiterating her own. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

Russian voters deserve a full investigation of all credible reports of electoral fraud and manipulation and we hope in particular that then Russian authorities will take action.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton • Lending support to claims that Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party, which did poorly in Sunday’s Russian parliamentary elections, may have committed acts of electoral fraud to make the massive decline look better than it actually was, a claim supported by international observers. The party, in what was seen as a referendum on Putin, lost 77 seats and its pivotal two-thirds majority. “The Russian people, like people everywhere, deserve the right to have their voices heard and their votes counted,” Clinton noted. “That means they deserve free, fair, transparent elections and leaders who are accountable to them.” source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Dec 2011 20:32