Citizens Protest Russian Election

Small groups of Russian citizens demonstrated against the recent Presidential election process and results, while most Western governments withheld public criticisms.

Earlier this week, several groups of protesters took to the streets for Moscow and St. Petersburg to show their outrage over suspected fraud in last Sunday’s Russian Presidential election, won easily by Dmitry Medvedev. In Moscow, the protesters were outnumbered by thousands of peaceful pro-Kremlin activists who marched on the U.S. embassy shouting pro-Putin and Medvedev chants. Surprisingly, there were no governmental crackdowns on the demonstrations.

Most Western governments avoided direct criticism of the vote, voicing their willingness to work with Medvedev, and hopes he respects democracy and freedom. Germany and France sent their congratulations to Medvedev, though they mentioned the vote did not meet their criteria of a democratic election.

The European Union and Britain said the election results appeared to reflect the will of the Russian people. I’m sure that Britain felt the same as Germany and France, but with their statement, employed a healthy dose of diplomacy.

There may well have been fraud and tampering during the vote, but I have no doubt that Medvedev still would have won a “fair” election. The majority of Russian citizens fully support Putin, and would therefore vote for his hand-picked successor. In polls across country, Medvedev was miles ahead of the other candidates,

It is quite likely that many people’s intent was to vote for Putin, believing that he will remain in control of the country, but it was Medvedev’s name on the ballots, and he received the votes. Westerners may not approve of the election process, but they do need to accept the will of the Russian people.