Medvedev: Maybe Unacceptable, But Theirs

Dimitry Medvedev is the next Russian president. Some leading Czech diplomats criticized the elections, claiming they were not democratic.

One has to laugh, considering the nature of the recent presidential elections in the Czech Republic. The Czech president is elected by our bicameral parliament and the haggling was nasty this year. It involved sending empty bullets to undecided legislators…

Russians elect their own president themselves, which does not mean the recent election could not have been manipulated. If there is anything that Russian politics is lacking, it is open government. A few Russians I know told me that the country needs a strong-hand politician/president, considering the size of the country and history of its problems. Maybe, but I can’t help it, the certain level of dictatorship in Putin’s case is way WAY higher than in case of any other European president.