We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
JAILED KREMLIN CRITIC Alexei Navalny’s app instructing Russians how to vote to unseat President Vladimir Putin’s ruling party disappeared from Apple and Google today as three-day parliamentary polls marked by a historic crackdown on the opposition opened across the country.
Parliamentary and local polls in the world’s largest country spread over 11 time zones began at 8am on Friday.
The run-up to the parliamentary polls has been marred by an unprecedented crackdown on Kremlin critics and independent media, with Putin’s top foe Alexei Navalny jailed in January and his organisations subsequently outlawed.
On Friday morning, Navalny’s ‘Smart Voting’ app was unavailable on Google and Apple stores after Russia ramped on pressure on US tech giants to remove it, accusing them of election interference.
Navalny’s allies denounced the move as an “act of political censorship”.
“They caved in to the Kremlin’s blackmail,” exiled Navalny ally Leonid Volkov said on Telegram. Google and Apple have not commented on the move.
Navalny had appealed to supporters from prison to download the app and urged them to back mostly Communist Party candidates to weaken the ruling party.
With many voters frustrated by falling incomes and not planning to cast their ballots, Putin urged Russians to elect a “strong” parliament.
“I’m counting on your responsible, balanced and patriotic civic position,” Putin said in a video address on Thursday.
The 68-year-old Russian leader is currently isolating after the Kremlin announced this week an outbreak of coronavirus cases among his inner circle. He said on Thursday “dozens” had tested positive.
Appeal from jail
Navalny had called on Russians to cast aside apathy and vote pro-Kremlin candidates out of power.
“Are you not interested in trying?” he said in a message posted on Instagram, adding that even in prison he remained optimistic and urging Russians to do the same.
“I really do not think that I cannot change anything,” said the 45-year-old, who barely survived a poisoning with Novichok nerve agent he has blamed on the Kremlin.
The opposition politician’s allies have been barred from running, and his team has promoted Navalny’s tactical voting project, urging supporters to back candidates best positioned to beat Putin’s United Russia candidates.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has claimed that developers of Navalny’s app have ties to the Pentagon, and last week Moscow summoned US ambassador John Sullivan over interference of US tech giants in the polls.
Recent surveys by state-run pollster VTsIOM showed fewer than 30% of Russians planning to vote for the ruling party, down from 40-45% in the weeks ahead of the last parliamentary election in 2016.
But United Russia is expected to retain its two-thirds majority in the Duma, enough to change the constitution as it did last year with reforms allowing Putin to extend his rule to 2036.
The vote is being held both online and in person, in a move officials said is aimed at limiting voters’ potential exposure to the coronavirus.
The opposition says that voting over several days gives officials greater opportunities to fix elections.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe said in August it would not be sending observers to Russia for the parliamentary election because of a limit on numbers imposed by Moscow.
‘Protests are unlikely’
Campaigning was lacklustre, and critics say the vote is little more than a rubber-stamping of Putin’s allies.
Andrei Kolesnikov, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said that the Kremlin needed a pliant legislature ahead of 2024 when Putin’s current term ends.
Widespread claims of voter fraud during parliamentary elections in 2011 sparked major demonstrations, but political observers are not expecting protests this time.
“Once the Duma elections are over, protests are unlikely, since the opposition and civil society are demoralised,” Kolesnikov wrote. “The regime crackdown will intensify.”
Besides United Russia, 13 more parties are running in the elections.
A total of 225 of the State Duma’s 450 members are elected through party lists, while the rest are selected in single-member districts.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
I wonder who will get the most votes
@Great White Hope: the CIA
@Great White Hope: Choice between communists and Putin. Neither side harbour fond memories in the Russian psyche.
Putin rules with an iron fist, similar to North Korea, Belarus, Syria, Myanmar simple as…luckily Trump didn’t get his way or he’d have been president for life.
@Charles Coughlan: small bit of an overreaction there Charles. A two thirds majority is required to change the presidential terms in office laws as laid out in the American constitution.
Principals will always loose out with these “profit is their one true God” corporate monsters.
Whether it comes in 10 or 20 years I do not expect Putin to pass away in his bed. Either the mob will rightly come for him or the puppet he thinks he’s replacing himself with will cut the strings. Same will Belarus only much sooner.
@Edmund Murphy: I don’t know about that. Putin is well set for a lifetime in charge and has duped the electorate to back him. Belarus could become a bloodbath in the interest of change. Could end up in civil war.
Next, they’ll probably sensor “unfavorable positions” of Doctors, Scientists, Nurses, Care-home Staff…. in favor of the highest bidder.
Could you imagine the division, economic and public health devastation that might cause??
have your say