Word: duma
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Putin, says Alexei Kondaurov, a former KGB general who is now a maverick Duma deputy, is known for keeping score and for a long memory. So the idea that he would want an infuriating gadfly like Litvinenko to disappear is not beyond reason. But the President's defenders scoff at the idea that he might have been involved in Litvinenko's death. Putin, they say, had no need to get rid of Litvinenko; the exile was an irrelevant crank. Milton Bearden, a former CIA spy in Moscow, as well as other experienced intelligence hands, agrees it would be nuts...
...Russia's electoral system has, of course, been turned into a sham: Independent candidates are not allowed; only those on party lists can compete for seats in the Duma. And all the parties that have not been squeezed out of existence are rigidly controlled by the Kremlin. Not surprisingly, perhaps, the Kremlin has also scrapped the minimum turnout requirement to validate the election, to eliminate staying away as a means of sabotaging the stage-managed poll. Everything would seem to be under control. But, the big intrigue remains: Who will be Putin's heir, appointed if not anointed, just...
...Putin has said repeatedly he respects the constitution that requires him to step down. But changing the constitution's two-term limit on the presidency requires only a vote by two-thirds of the heavily controlled Duma, and two-thirds of the heavily controlled Federation Council (upper house) and a similar margin of votes by regional governors, all appointed by the Kremlin. Putin, presumably, will respect any such revisions to the Constitution...
...Whatever the agenda of those behind the killings, the effect may be more devastating than they intend. Says former KGB General and now a dissenting Duma member Alexei Kondaurov: "The Litvinenko murder landmarks the precedent of nuclear terrorism. Unless it is resolved, terrorists of any mettle will know they can get away with it." Putin's failure to help resolve that crime will also further institutionalize violence as a tool of political struggle, he believes. "Then, both the state, factions within the state, and opposition forces will habitually resort to murder as a political expediency. This will smash the country...
...killing as the latest blow to democracy and free speech, part of a steady erosion of civil liberties. Russian democracy was chaotically vibrant just a decade ago, after the collapse of communism in 1991. But these days it is looking fragile. New legislation annuls independent candidates for the Duma (parliament's lower house), and no political party can exist without the Kremlin's approval. Regional governors and members of the upper house of parliament are no longer elected but appointed. Most key national media are in the hands of state or state-controlled corporations, and Russian activists live in fear...