Elections in Russia

[Sovz]

Two days after the elections and prices are already rising.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7127073.stm

I guess they do have a point there… you can’t subsidize the economy just to keep the population content, at least not indefinitely. Reforms are coming, whether Russia is prepared for them or not.

 

[maximaz]

Exactly what I expected. Chechnya thing made me laugh. Not only did they supposedly vote for Putin but 99%... Props to Kadyrov for keeping it "realistic" and not deciding on 100%.

 

[Neamos]

Why does everyone act like the Checheniya thing was a big surprise? It's (was) a warzone ruled by a fuckwit who thinks he's a feudal lord, hello?

 

[John Uskglass]

I read this as "Eroticism in Russia" at first. I am very disappointed.

 

[maximaz]

Why does everyone act like the Checheniya thing was a big surprise? It's (was) a warzone ruled by a fuckwit who thinks he's a feudal lord, hello?

Not a surprise, just funny.

 

[iii]

Brother None

Luckily you (edit: AND I) weren't right with your prediction about the next Russian president!

Dmitrij Medwedew is going to be the next president Russia...

 

[Brother None]

Yes, славо бога.

I wonder if it's just a power-play as Putin tries to manoeuvre Medvedev into a puppet position with Putin holding all the strings.

We'll see. Better than Ivanov, tho'.

PS: "you weren't right"? I'm pretty sure you said "Ivanov will make the race" yourself, Fahrplan.

 

[iii]

Yes,

I wonder if it's just a power-play as Putin tries to manoeuvre Medvedev into a puppet position with Putin holding all the strings.

We'll see. Better than Ivanov, tho'.

PS: "you weren't right"? I'm pretty sure you said "Ivanov will make the race" yourself, Fahrplan.

Uhm... I corrected it...

Yeah Iwanow got a lot more time on the Russian television at that time and it looked like Medwedew was losing Putins favor... Oh well Political Scientists should stop making predictions.

 

[Brother None]

Uhm... I corrected it...

Yeah Iwanow got a lot more time on the Russian television at that time and it looked like Medwedew was losing Putins favor... Oh well Political Scientists should stop making predictions.

Predictions are for the fool-hardy!

I corrected it too, into "I have no idea what the hell is going on anymore" a few months back.

Which seemed to be the consensus. I do dislike it when political analysts appear on TV at a time when nobody really knows what's going on, which was the case when Zubkov fell into the premier spot. Nobody really knew what was going on at that point, yet these analysts appeared on TV to spew some line very confidently. And I knew most people would swallow it, and you could only see what they were saying didn't make much sense if you specialized in the area.

It kinda sucks because you know you're being cheated in other areas too. J. Luyendijk in his book "They're just like people" describes very well how Middle Eastern journalism is mostly guest-work and guestimates of what the hell is going on since nobody really knows for sure on time, and when you see a ME correspondent on TV they usually don't know what's going on but they have to spew a barely nuanced story out for the audience anyway.

I guess that's the problem, these correspondents aren't allowed to say "I don't really know, but if I'd have to guess..." Just figure back, how many times do you hear correspondents say that. Never. Why? Not because it's not the case, but because people at home like to think they're really well-informed while in reality they're not.

Though I have to say Russian experts in Holland are pretty high-class. Some of our experts here and at the IHT are the only ones I can rely on for insightful analysis of what's going on. Other than that I just correspond with people I still have a line with there.

 

[Neamos]

It would be fun (or maybe not) if later it devolves into a power struggle between Ivanov and Medvedev If Putin goes away

Medwedew

Iwanow

Why?

слава богу

 

[Brother None]

Why?

в has a pronunciation that is close to both the English v and w. It's freely transcribed either v or w, but Germans always transcribe it w.

Different transcription because Russia never made an official system. I believe the Germans even transcribe щ as tschtsch. The International Scientific Transcription has в as v, and щ as šč.

слава богу

Whoops, sorry. Thanks for the fix.

I must say Russians are a hell of a lot more anal about their language online than in real life. Whenever I'm in Russia, people are endeared and amused by my attempts to speak their language, and while they sometimes don't understand me (it's funny how sensitive the Russian language is to wrong pronunciation because of the importance of stressing the right vowel), it's no problem either way. I notice more and more that online, people whine and bugger about every little letter. Imagine if people did that with all the terrible English out there, wouldn't that be a time waster?

 

[Madbringer]

I think most, if not all, Slavs are oversensitive about the proper writing of their language online.. yeah, it's easy to be a grammar Nazi when you can quickly run the text through a spellchecker or something. Not so easy when speaking in real life, when those grammar masters usually do a lot of mistakes themselves.

Anyway, i'm not surprised how the elections turned out. I'm a little glad, actually, even if the guy will be on Putin's strings. Under Tusk, the Polish - Russian relationship should flourish, and that can only be good. And since the Russian administration should stick with the current brainwave, there's no risk in slowing down the good momentum.

What was all this jazz about the elections being rigged and/or falsified? There was a lot of talk about that in the Polish media. Any official statements regarding that in Russia?

 

[Brother None]

And since the Russian administration should stick with the current brainwave

No, they shouldn't, Russia is storming into a crisis.

Gazprom has needed to invest in advanced exploitation of gas and fixing up pipelines for years now. Instead, Gazprom invested in odd things like TV networks or roads.

Probably within 5 years the oil efficiency will start going back and thus profit margins will cease to grow. When that happens, the "virtual economy" of non-sustainable companies that currently lean on Gazprom will collapse, because they don't have any real added value in the economic world. Nobody knows how many companies are really viable due to the existence of the "virtual economy", but if there are a lot, which some fear, we're looking at a huge crisis here.

So no, staying the course would not be a good idea.

I bet the St Petersburg lobby knows that. If only they had more power than the Moscow lobby, again.

What was all this jazz about the elections being rigged and/or falsified? There was a lot of talk about that in the Polish media. Any official statements regarding that in Russia?

The Russian head election official promised to shave of his beard if the elections were falsified.

"BY MY BEARD, I SWEAR!"

Classic.

But seriously; yeah, some fraud. Just what was expected, a few minor official getting hotheaded, some real fraud in Chechnya. Nothing that turns the results upside down, just forcing the results from United Russia has 50% of the votes to 60%.

Again, tuning the election minimum up from 5% to 7% was a lot worse for the democratic level of these elections.

 

[Madbringer]

No, they shouldn't, Russia is storming into a crisis.

I meant, with the improving Polish - Russian relationship, i do not know enough about internal economical-political Russian status to say which brainwave would be good there, heh.

 

[Brother None]

I meant, with the improving Polish - Russian relationship, i do not know enough about internal economical-political Russian status to say which brainwave would be good there, heh.

Oh, that.

Yeah, Medvedev is pretty good international relations in general. Ivanov is such a hardliner, he would've probably demanded to incorporate parts of Poland back into Russia.

 

[Neamos]

I believe the Germans even transcribe щ as tschtsch

Ooookay, that's insane. And i thought sch for щ was crazy (come on, shit - щит)

I must say Russians are a hell of a lot more anal about their language online than in real life.

lol u sed anal


I can stop that if you want

Yeah, Medvedev is pretty good international relations in general. Ivanov is such a hardliner, he would've probably demanded to incorporate parts of Poland back into Russia.

Screw Poland, we need Alaska back

 

[13pm]

wow! what a thread...
I think march elections will pass without any surprises, they've just tested how that will work with Duma elections, so there will be nearly the same with president's elections I think.

btw, United Russia's main agitation theme was some mythical 'Putin's Plan'. Nobody knows what it is (even Putin I suppose). I've just finished 'The Witcher' today and (WARNING! SPOILER!) when Master Jakob began talking about his Great Plan I nearly fell to the floor laughing =)
I think, if someone from United Russia plays this game they will propose burning all the copies of the game for heresy

 

[Brother None]

Ooookay, that's insane. And i thought sch for щ was crazy (come on, shit - щит)

Солжени́цын is Solschenizyn in German, Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Ради́щев would transcribe as Alexandr Nikolajewitsch Radischtschew.

Crazy? They don't care!

lol u sed anal

lewls

I can stop that if you want

Nah, I don't care, though derailing to debate grammar is against our rules.

Screw Poland, we need Alaska back

True dat, it's not like the US is using it.

United Russia's main agitation theme was some mythical 'Putin's Plan'.

Yeah, very typical, very amusing.

 

[13pm]

United Russia's main agitation theme was some mythical 'Putin's Plan'.

Yeah, very typical, very amusing.

typical of whom?

 

[Brother None]

typical of whom?

The vague mythical plan-of-the-leader propaganda thing is very Soviet. Hate to say it, 'cause I hate the usual "lol Russians just want a czar!" stuff, but it is