Wedding with devotees

The Central Election Commission is ready to replace international observers with domestic ones

As if on cue, belated indignation gripped Russian officials yesterday over the refusal of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to monitor the March 2 presidential elections. This decision became known last week, but the flared political passions in Russia have not yet subsided.

Let us recall that the director of the bureau, Christian Strohal, insisted that his experts begin observing the elections two weeks earlier than the deadline determined by the Russian authorities. This was the reason for a small diplomatic conflict, which resulted in a boycott of the March 2 elections by the ODIHR. The failed negotiations with representatives of the bureau were conducted by the Chairman of the Central Election Commission, Vladimir Churov, who is now trying to assure the public that nothing fundamental will change as a result of the ODIHR’s demarche. “The number of polling stations does not depend on whether a certain mission comes to the elections or not,” Mr. Churov said yesterday in St. Petersburg. At the same time, he complained that when foreign experts conduct monitoring, it is even more difficult to find justice for them: “If an international observer believes that the elections were dishonest, it is not possible to challenge this.”

The thought of the annoying obstinacy of foreign analysts also visited the member of the Central Election Commission Vasily Volkov, and he found a simple and effective cure for this scourge: “The lack of international observers must be filled by the active work of non-governmental organizations.” According to Mr. Volkov, the parliamentary campaign showed that domestic NGOs constructively criticize the activities of the Central Election Commission, and that, in turn, listens sensitively to criticism.

However, yesterday it was mainly the ODIHR that was criticized. Political scientist Sergei Markov, who was elected to the State Duma on the United Russia list in December, exposed the insidious plan of the Europeans: it turns out that they will not observe the voting in order to undermine Russia’s image in the West. “You invite people to a wedding, but with the conditions not to break dishes or swear, and they say: no, we cannot give you such a promise,” the parliamentarian described the hypothetical outrages of international observers. (Although elections are not a wedding, and all over the world observers work according to their own rules, and not at all according to the legislation of the country of observation, as Russian officials and political scientists claim. - Ed. ) - The question of whether elections are fair or dishonest has been replaced by the question, do you like the elections American Politburo or not." But the plans of overseas political strategists to discredit our elections are not destined to be implemented. After all, in the words of Mr. Markov himself, for Russia today “internal legitimacy is more important than external.” In other words, the opinion of the West does not play a role in this case.

Touching in its naivety, the comparison of the institution of international observation with an invitation to visit - to a wedding or just for a cup of tea - has long become one of the favorite arguments of the Central Election Commission. The second popular excuse fell to the speaker of the Federation Council Sergei Mironov to voice yesterday. “By arriving with their charter in a foreign monastery, ODIHR officials brought the situation to the level of an ultimatum,” he emphasized, transparently hinting that such an approach violates “the sovereignty of the state being monitored.” He also once again blamed the OSCE for the “lack of principles collectively agreed upon at the intergovernmental level” for organizing the work of international observation missions.

Natalia ROZHKOVA