Wall Street Journal (March 3, 2012)
“Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Russia’s paramount ruler since 2000, will reclaim his old job as president in Sunday’s elections. The drama comes in the aftermath…. Anticorruption blogger and activist Alexei Navalny will be in the middle of it.” Amid recent protests, he “has emerged as the charismatic and fresh face of the movement.” Just 35 years old, Navalny works from a small office with a staff of just 11. Yet he is feared by the Kremlin. Navalny remains the only opposition leader banned from state-controlled TV.
“Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Russia’s paramount ruler since 2000, will reclaim his old job as president in Sunday’s elections. The drama comes in the aftermath…. Anticorruption blogger and activist Alexei Navalny will be in the middle of it.” Amid recent protests, he “has emerged as the charismatic and fresh face of the movement.” Just 35 years old, Navalny works from a small office with a staff of just 11. Yet he is feared by the Kremlin. Navalny remains the only opposition leader banned from state-controlled TV.
Tags: Navalny, Opposition, President, Putin, Russia
Financial Times (June 7)
In Turkey, elections are slated for Sunday. It’s a foregone conclusion that Reçep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development party (AKP) will win. The AKP has controlled the country since 2002 and Prime Minister Erdogan is extremely popular. A close election would be the better than a landslide. “The big decisions that Turkey’s next parliament will take will carry greater weight if they are shaped by the opposition as well as the AKP.” These decisions include whether to switch from a parliamentary system to a presidential system.
Tags: Election, Erdogan, Opposition, Parliament, President, Turkey
