I am voting for an extreme right-wing billionaire in this election!!!

[House]

Dude, you have some problems.....the title of the thread states that I wanted to vote for Prohorov! What was interesting to me was that a right wing candidate in Russia represents liberal values that are usually represented by the left in the U.S. Once again, you could actually learn something, if you weren't so into ME!

Right Cause represents business interests and supports privatization - values that are not represented by US liberals. They support an oligarchical form of government and have been tied to the Kremlin who supported their business interests in the area of oil and gas. Additionally, Right Cause backed Medvedev; the Putin puppet. Not satisfied with being the 3rd richest man in Russia (due to rampant corruption) Prokhorov now wants to run the whole state outright. He only recently split with Putin and the status quo in the past year. Links to follow, if you like there are more:

Russia Needs Strong Right-Wing Party - Medvedev
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20120206/171179337.html

Right-wing hooligans terrorize Russia
http://www.minnpost.com/global-post/...rrorize-russia

Prokhorov Promises 2nd Place in Duma
23 May 2011
By Natalya Krainova
Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov promised on Saturday to turn Right Cause into Russia's second-largest party in the country with a pro-business platform that would change the country's landscape over the next decade.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/a...#ixzz1oBTl4PTA

The following was released AFTER Prokhorov assumed leadership responsibilities for his party:

http://www.idu.org/news.aspx?id=1952

The International Democrat Union (IDU) on 23 September, 2011 suspended the Russian political party Right Cause (Pravoe Delo) as an Associate Member due to undemocratic developments within the party.

Right Cause became an Associate Member of the IDU in 2009 when IDU's former Russian Member Party, the Union of Right Forces (SPS), merged with two smaller parties in 2009. This decision was in part influenced by the endorsement of former SPS Leaders. IDU Vice-Chairman Leonid Gozman became co-chairman of the new party.

Since that decision the IDU has kept in close contact with Right Cause and carefully monitored their progress. Following recent changes in the leadership of Right Cause, it has become clear that the party is now under the direct control of the Kremlin and that all liberal voices within the party have been sidelined.

The IDU’s founding declaration agreed in London, 1983 states that IDU Member Parties are committed to the “right of free speech, organisation, assembly and non-violent dissent; the right to free elections and the freedom to organise effective parliamentary opposition to government.”

As Kremlin rulers consistently violate these principles, the IDU has judged that any party under the direct control of the Kremlin can not be considered fit for IDU membership. The IDU has therefore decided that the Associate Membership of Right Cause should be suspended with immediate effect.

The IDU looks forward to future co-operation with Russians and like-minded political parties genuinely committed to democratic values.

If you have queries, including any questions from the media regarding this decision, please e-mail secretariat(at)idu.org

Eirik Moen
Secretary General
International Democrat Union


About the IDU
http://www.idu.org/history.aspx

[House]

Querck

I do my research before I talk.

Now go mind your momma. You bum

nOw that the game is over, I have plenty of time to expose your hypocrisy

[Querck]

US liberals don't support privatization??? You are dumber than I thought. I am talking about liberals, not communists!

Right Cause represents business interests and supports privatization - values that are not represented by US liberals. They support an oligarchical form of government and have been tied to the Kremlin who supported their business interests in the area of oil and gas. Additionally, Right Cause backed Medvedev; the Putin puppet. Not satisfied with being the 3rd richest man in Russia (due to rampant corruption) Prokhorov now wants to run the whole state outright. He only recently split with Putin and the status quo in the past year. Links to follow, if you like there are more:

Russia Needs Strong Right-Wing Party - Medvedev
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20120206/171179337.html

Right-wing hooligans terrorize Russia
http://www.minnpost.com/global-post/...rrorize-russia

Prokhorov Promises 2nd Place in Duma
23 May 2011
By Natalya Krainova
Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov promised on Saturday to turn Right Cause into Russia's second-largest party in the country with a pro-business platform that would change the country's landscape over the next decade.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/a...#ixzz1oBTl4PTA

The following was released AFTER Prokhorov assumed leadership responsibilities for his party:

http://www.idu.org/news.aspx?id=1952

The International Democrat Union (IDU) on 23 September, 2011 suspended the Russian political party Right Cause (Pravoe Delo) as an Associate Member due to undemocratic developments within the party.

Right Cause became an Associate Member of the IDU in 2009 when IDU's former Russian Member Party, the Union of Right Forces (SPS), merged with two smaller parties in 2009. This decision was in part influenced by the endorsement of former SPS Leaders. IDU Vice-Chairman Leonid Gozman became co-chairman of the new party.

Since that decision the IDU has kept in close contact with Right Cause and carefully monitored their progress. Following recent changes in the leadership of Right Cause, it has become clear that the party is now under the direct control of the Kremlin and that all liberal voices within the party have been sidelined.

The IDU’s founding declaration agreed in London, 1983 states that IDU Member Parties are committed to the “right of free speech, organisation, assembly and non-violent dissent; the right to free elections and the freedom to organise effective parliamentary opposition to government.”

As Kremlin rulers consistently violate these principles, the IDU has judged that any party under the direct control of the Kremlin can not be considered fit for IDU membership. The IDU has therefore decided that the Associate Membership of Right Cause should be suspended with immediate effect.

The IDU looks forward to future co-operation with Russians and like-minded political parties genuinely committed to democratic values.

If you have queries, including any questions from the media regarding this decision, please e-mail secretariat(at)idu.org

Eirik Moen
Secretary General
International Democrat Union


About the IDU
http://www.idu.org/history.aspx

[Querck]

Where is the hypocrisy? You haven't exposed shit.

Querck

I do my research before I talk.

Now go mind your momma. You bum

nOw that the game is over, I have plenty of time to expose your hypocrisy

[House]

US liberals don't support privatization??? You are dumber than I thought. I am talking about liberals, not communists!

No. They don't. I guess you missed the meeting

[House]

Where is the hypocrisy? You haven't exposed shit.

Look in the mirror.

[House]

This weeks NY Times. They point out that Right Cause was a sham and a Kremlin puppet organization designed to provide the illusion of choice:

http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/ref...rov/index.html

Mikhail D. Prokhorov

James Hill for The New York Times
Updated: March 2, 2011

Mikhail D. Prokhorov is a Russian billionaire who owns the New Jersey Nets along with shares in a major gold mining operation and an array of other ventures. He is widely considered one of the richest men in Russia, with a net worth estimated at $18 billion.

In December 2011, he announced he would run for president of Russia in the March 2012 election, challenging Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin. His decision was in response to a series of large street protests against Mr. Putin that broke out in Moscow over charges of fraud in the parliamentary elections. Mr. Prokhorov is the first of the post-Soviet set of ultrawealthy financiers to run for president.

Though his chances of beating Mr. Putin were small, his campaign gained momentum in a way that spoke to the state of Russian politics — in particular, the extraordinary hunger for a fresh face in a small but distinct part of the electorate. In December, when he announced his candidacy, Mr. Prokhorov’s rating was around 1 percent. By late February, his ratings edged past 5 percent in polls, though his campaign said internal polling showed nationwide support between 7.5 and 9 percent.

Even so, Mr. Prokhorov’s candidacy never posed a real threat to Mr. Putin, who is expected to win his third term as president in the elections on March 4, 2012.

Mr. Prokhorov faced particular challenges during his campaign. It did not help, for example, that his wealth, from running a mining company, is directly tied to the natural resources that a large part of the electorate believes were stolen from them in the 1990s.

Or that in Russia’s still tightly controlled political system, much debate took place over whether he is or is not in the pocket of the very autocrat he was running against, Prime Minister Putin.

Being a billionaire in itself — Mr. Prokhorov owns 20 Jet Skis, a 200-foot yacht and a mansion outside Moscow — might seem a fatal handicap in an era of anger at the rich that is as prevalent in Russia as anywhere.

But Mr. Prokhorov and the people around him made clear that he would not try to disguise his wealth. “We are not trying to hide this,” Mr. Prokhorov’s campaign manager, Anton Krasovsky, said of his candidate’s net worth and lavish lifestyle, which have earned him the nicknames the Bachelor Billionaire and the Holiday Man. “It’s clear that Russians don’t love the rich, as in any country.”

But these days, he added, “people are not angry at the rich. They are angry at lying, censorship and the police.”

A Political Move

In May 2011, Mr. Prokhorov created a liberal Russian political party with close ties to the Kremlin, called Right Cause. But in September he quit the pro-business party, condemning it as a “puppet Kremlin party” micromanaged by a “puppet-master” in the president’s office. Allies of Mr. Putin had taken control of the party after Mr. Prokhorov clashed with the Kremlin’s top political strategist.

Mr. Prokhorov’s decision to lead Right Cause seemed to be part of a Kremlin effort to provide an alternative for Russians disaffected with the country’s dominant political party, United Russia, while still ensuring continued support for the ruling authorities. The party generally espouses pro-Western liberal views in tune with those of the business and intellectual elite in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The creation of “pocket opposition” parties — designed to capture dissenting voters without posing any challenge to central authorities — has been standard practice in recent election cycles in Russia.

Mr. Prokhorov denied that Right Cause was operating in this way. But when he quit in September 2011 he said the presidential administration was exerting considerable influence.

It is very unlikely that Mr. Prokhorov joined Right Cause without the approval of Mr. Putin and President Dmitri A. Medvedev. The Kremlin closely monitors the political activities of the billionaires known as oligarchs. The last person of Mr. Prokhorov’s standing to venture into politics was the oil tycoon Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, who was arrested in 2003 after challenging Mr. Putin. He remains in jail.

Mr. Prokhorov was one of several high-profile figures who were considered for the job, and he was considered an odd choice, since he had shown little previous interest in politics.

Background

Mr. Prokhorov is relatively young, charming, athletic and adventurous, a modern-day renaissance man with an air of cold war mystique. Known as the Bachelor Billionaire, with a penchant for lavish parties, he started out selling jeans in Moscow in the late 1980s and worked his way up from there.

In May 2010, Mr. Prokhorov paid $200 million for 80 percent of the New Jersey Nets and 45 percent of Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the team’s new arena that will open in September 2012.

He agreed to finance up to $60 million of Nets losses until they move into the arena and be responsible for 80 percent of the team’s debt of $207 million. The agreement amounted to a rescue package for the developer Bruce C. Ratner, who purchased the team in 2003 for $300 million with the intention of relocating them to Brooklyn. In 2010, the Nets had one of the worst records by percentage in N.B.A. history. Mr. Prokhorov is the first overseas owner of a National Basketball Association team

His interest in basketball appears genuine, and he played the sport when he was younger. Mr. Prokhorov owns a share of the Russian team CSKA Moscow. In a blog post, he stated that one of the main motivations in pursuing the Nets was to improve the quality and financial health of basketball in Russia.

The Nets’ move to Brooklyn gave Mr. Prokhorov a team in a borough with many immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

In April 2008, Mr. Prokhorov was pressured by the Russian government into selling his large stake in the metals company Norilsk Nickel. The sale ostensibly stemmed from an incident in 2007, when Mr. Prokhorov was detained for four days in France on suspicion of making prostitutes available to his guests. His business partner, Vladimir O. Potanin, said he wanted to buy out Mr. Prokhorov because of the embarrassing arrest. Mr. Potanin was a favorite of the Kremlin, and the deal was seen as evidence of the Russian government’s strategy of exploiting minor legal infractions to force sales of companies in strategic industries.

For Mr. Prokhorov, it was a stroke of good fortune. The deal took place just before the world financial crisis struck the Russian stock market, and he ended up with a huge amount of cash, while some of his fellow tycoons had tremendous losses. Through his company, the Onexim Group, he still maintains an interest in other metals companies, including the Russian aluminum giant UC Rusal.

[House]

This is from Kommersant:

RUSSIA'S PROKHOROV CAN'T EXPECT TO BEAT PUTIN. SO WHY IS HE STILL IN THE RACE?
As the Russian presidential elections approach, there is still little doubt Vladimir Putin will win. Billionaire and basketball team owner Mikhail Prokhorov, however, continues to keep his hat in the ring. Why? Russia’s Kommersant offers a few explanations.

Mikhail Prokhorov in December 2011 (moscowprotest)

By Maria Luisa Tirmaste
KOMMERSANT/Worldcrunch

MOSCOW – Billionaire and Russian presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov is running on a platform called “a real future,” through which he spells out his dream of seeing Russia governed by “real politicians.” For that reason he would like to limit the election of presidents and governors to no more than two terms in their lifetime. If elected, the New Jersey Nets basketball team owner would limit his own time as president to four years.
In response to the recent protests that have erupted in Moscow and elsewhere across Russia, Prokhorov is proposing a series of voting reforms. He calls for direct elections of mayors and governors and wants to change the elections rules so that parties which receive less than 3% of the vote can still have representation in the Duma, Russia’s parliament.

“The most important part of my program is quick and high-quality reforms,” says Prokhorov. “Our country is developing very slowly at the moment. That is leading us to lose our global competitiveness. I want to live in a Russia that leads the world, not one that is slinking along with its tail between its legs.”

Prokhorov promises amnesty to those who have been convicted of economic crimes, and would change the laws on government purchases to give all gas producers equal access to government contracts, the transport system and export markets. He would divide the national company Gasprom into several competing companies, and would privatize many government controlled corporations in the hopes of closing the deficit in the Russian Pension Fund. In addition, Prokhorov proposes several tax and budgetary reforms.

“My program is still dynamic, and could still be changed, both before and after the elections. I want this platform to become the program for development in this country after the elections,” Prokhorov explains in an interview with Kommersant.
Describing it as both “liberal” and “European,” Boric Nemtsov, the co-chairman of the opposition People’s Freedom party, says that the businessman’s platform is “absolutely the most progressive of all the platforms.” But are his proposals for real, or are they simply propaganda? That question will continue to be posed, says Nemtsov, as long as Prokhorov refuses to “tell the truth about how he became a candidate for presidency and what kind of agreement he has with Putin.”
Fighting for fourth place

Political scientist Evgeniy Minchenko, for one, has trouble taking the proposals at face value. “The program is written in such a way that there is no way that anyone is planning to actually carry it through,” he says. Minchenko thinks Prokhorov’s whole campaign is functioning within a framework approved and agreed upon by Vladimir Putin’s team.

The political scientist notes, for example, that Prokhorov is not actively campaigning outside of Moscow and St. Petersburg, even in regions where he would have a good chance of at least coming in second to Putin. Minchenko thinks that Prokhorov was told not to campaign in the regions where he could steal votes from Putin.

Politicians and experts alike agree that 10% of the vote on March 4 would be a very good result for Prokhorov. According to Nemtsov, Prokhorov’s results will depend largely on the amount of money he is willing to spend on the campaign.
“Now is an important moment for Prokhorov. He is fighting for fourth place,” says political scientist and United Russia member Aleksei Chesnakov. “If he manages to come in fourth and to associate himself with the right people, then he has a chance at a political career.”

According to Minchenko, if Prokhorov comes in with around 5% of the vote, he will have to team up with other politicians in the future. But if he comes closer to 10%, he could start his own political party. Even Prokhorov has spoken about the possibility of building a political party on the basis of his presidential run. “I have a platform, I have supporters and will get even more in the future,” Prokhorov said. Whatever party Prokhorov does start, it will certainly be after the presidential elections.
Looking to the future

Prokhorov could be playing the long-term game, and laying the groundwork for the next parliamentary elections, Minchenko says. But if that is his strategy, he will need to concentrate on the areas outside of Moscow and St. Petersburg, which he has not managed to do yet. “And he has not shown himself to be a very sharp public politician, nor a very good organizer,” Minchenko adds.

Chesnakov says that if Prokhorov wants to stay in the game for the long-term, he is going to have to transform himself from a lone-ranger type politician to a leader of a team of strong politicians. Prokhorov himself has said that if he wins at least 10% of the vote on March 4, he will start his own party, but if he gets less than that, he will try to integrate himself into a previously existing political party.
Another possible option for Prokhorov would be to work with the current political power. Ex-Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov said the wealthy candidate could, at least theoretically, become vice-prime minister. Minchenko agrees, saying that if Prokhorov strictly follows the agreement with Putin, then Putin may name him vice-prime minister, also known as the “minister of unpopular reforms.”

If that’s the case, “he will lose all of this popularity within a year, “says Minchenko. “Just look at what happened to Sergei Tigipko in Ukraine. He came in third in the presidential elections, and then was given the post of vice prime minister. He oversaw several unpopular reforms, and nothing became of his political party.”

Prokhorov insists he will not consider taking a position under Putin, and says there have been no discussions of that nature with the ruling party. And regardless of the election result, the billionaire businessman says he will stick to politics. “After the elections I will be focusing exclusively on politics,”

http://worldcrunch.com/russias-prokh...till-race/4708

[House]

Remember...this was a serious campaign:

[House]

The green dot means that you're still on line. Enjoy your cup of Shut da Hell Up. I have additional servings if you're still thirsty

Querck
Platinum Member +

Join Date 03-18-2002
Current Activity Viewing Thread I am voting for an extreme right-wing billionaire in this election!!!
Last Activity Today 04:22 PM

[bomb cola]

It was very nice of them! Got them 62% of the vote. Putin is one smart mf'er.

Yeah! Letting people express their opinions...so benevolent.

[bomb cola]

When I have something to contribute I come here when I have time. This topic is actually interesting to those who are interested in international politics. I have a unique view on this, as I am living in Russia right now, and as far as I know nobody else on DHP does. So you can get your news or opinions from the media, or you can get some information from people's personal experience......

Or we can get our Russian propaganda from Putin's #1 ball washer.

[bomb cola]

All I am saying is that I live in Russia, while your boy lives in Chicago. So, if I wanted to know how it is for Russians to live in Chicago, I would surely listen to his opinions. Although he is probably Ukranian........

Does this mean you're finally going to STFU about US politics then? I doubt it.

[bomb cola]

Heres what a Russian, that lives in Russia (and isnt a momma abandoning jagoff like yourself) has to say about these elections:

"As he voted, Mikhail Gorbachv, the last head of the Soviet Union, said, “These are not going to be honest elections, but we must not relent,” according to the AP. ”Honest elections should be our constant motto for years to come.”

No way Gorbachev knows more about Russian politics than Querck. No way.

[bomb cola]

This weeks NY Times. They point out that Right Cause was a sham and a Kremlin puppet organization designed to provide the illusion of choice:

And Querck fell for it. Quelle surprise!

[Querck]

Ok, you did some research. That's admirable of you. I am no fan of Putin or Prohorov. But as you know I am no fan of politicians in general. Hey, at least I am consistent. I wanted to vote for Prohorov, but not because I believe in him, but only because I believe in the process of voting itself. I had to choose somebody. The failure of Russian democracy is that I really didn't have a choice. My candidate was prevented from being on the ballot. By no means do I think these elections were fair.

The green dot means that you're still on line. Enjoy your cup of Shut da Hell Up. I have additional servings if you're still thirsty

Querck
Platinum Member +

Join Date 03-18-2002
Current Activity Viewing Thread I am voting for an extreme right-wing billionaire in this election!!!
Last Activity Today 04:22 PM

[House]

And Querck fell for it. Quelle surprise!

Then he came here to lord it over us because we are the uninformed ones. What an embarrassing turn of events this is.

No wonder he couldn't hack it as a lawyer in United Stateski.

[House]

Mihail Prohorov!

It's so strange to be supporting the right wing here in Russia, while I am way on the left in the U.S. The political formation is completely different.

Btw, in this "extremely undemocratic" country I will have a choice between 5 candidates! It sure beats having 2 options in the U.S. elections.

Where is the hypocrisy? You haven't exposed shit.

Ok, you did some research. That's admirable of you. I am no fan of Putin or Prohorov. But as you know I am no fan of politicians in general. Hey, at least I am consistent. I wanted to vote for Prohorov, but not because I believe in him, but only because I believe in the process of voting itself. I had to choose somebody. The failure of Russian democracy is that I really didn't have a choice. My candidate was prevented from being on the ballot. By no means do I think these elections were fair.

Obviously, I have exposed shit

That would be yourself

[House]

Mihail Prohorov!

It's so strange to be supporting the right wing here in Russia, while I am way on the left in the U.S. The political formation is completely different.

Btw, in this "extremely undemocratic" country I will have a choice between 5 candidates! It sure beats having 2 options in the U.S. elections.

Oh Danny....its funny, every single Russian I know is sick at this election and at Russia's inability to build a civil society. And all of them know that Prohorov is only straw man candidate, set up and accepted by Putin because he makes the election appear somewhat democratic when it is not.

How many Russians do you know? See, my point is that the level of democracy here is at least on a similar level as in the U.S.

In my posts you could actually learn a lot about Russian politics, elections, democracy.....

The failure of Russian democracy is that I really didn't have a choice. My candidate was prevented from being on the ballot. By no means do I think these elections were fair.

Frigging embarrassing

[Querck]

Nope. I always said that Russia has a flawed democracy. Just like the U.S.

Obviously, I have exposed shit

That would be yourself

[Querck]

Putin to Russia is what the Republicrats are to the U.S. All about creating an illusion of choice and true democracy, when in reality democracy is very limited and managed by the elites.

[House]

Mihail Prohorov!

It's so strange to be supporting the right wing here in Russia, while I am way on the left in the U.S. The political formation is completely different.

Btw, in this "extremely undemocratic" country I will have a choice between 5 candidates! It sure beats having 2 options in the U.S. elections.

Putin to Russia is what the Republicrats are to the U.S. All about creating an illusion of choice and true democracy, when in reality democracy is very limited and managed by the elites.

Research indicates that multiple personality disorder symptoms appear most commonly in people who have suffered some sort of childhood trauma — be it repetitive sexual molestation, physical violence or emotional abuse.

http://multiplepersonalitydisordersymptoms.org/

[House]

Russian democracy!

[JMJ]

No way Gorbachev knows more about Russian politics than Querck. No way.

Querck is a real Russian. Gorbachev? Not so much.....JMJ

[SuzanneT]

Russian democracy!

Wow.