Garry Kasparov: Russian democracy is a farce. Putin wants the same fate for America
The Kremlin bullied and bribed Russians to the ballot box again on Wednesday,
the latest episode of what long ago became a painful mockery of democracy.
Democracy means choices, and there has been no real choice in Russia for many
years. All roads, all votes, lead to Vladimir Putin. The plebiscite was on changing the Russian constitution
to, among other things, allow Putin to stay in power until 2036.
Of course,
"allow" is a silly word to use when Putin was always going to rule
the Kremlin until he's carried out, no matter what any piece of paper says.
Even this formality was a foregone conclusion; the new constitution was
available for purchase on newsstands and bookstores for days ahead of the vote. Early analysis from
statistician Sergey Shpilkin shows an estimated 22 million fake votes out of a reported 74 million
cast.
It's fair to ask, why
bother with the pretense of democracy? Dictatorships are obsessed with the
superficial trappings of legitimacy and democracy, both as distraction and to
sully the meaning of these terms. And after decades of liquidating the
opposition and crushing all dissent, a despot might even enjoy thinking that
he's as popular as the worthless polls, elections and state media say he is.
These sham votes
aren't only to provide Putin with cover in Russia, where civil society barely
exists, but to give foreign leaders the pretext of treating Putin like an equal
instead of confronting him like the autocrat he is. It also allows foreign
media to continue calling him "president," putting him on par with
the leaders of free countries. As with every tyrant before him, Putin thrives
partly due to the cowardice of those who could deter him but choose not to….
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/05/opinions/russian-democracy-is-a-farce-kasparov/index.htmlsee also
