THE SUNDAY TIMES: WHEN Anya Kaluyeva, a Russian primary school teacher, was summoned to her boss’s office last week, she expected to discuss a new set of textbooks. The conversation quickly took a more sinister turn.
The head teacher asked the 48-year-old whom she intended to vote for in today’s parliamentary elections. When she hesitated, he ordered her to support United Russia, the party backed by President Vladimir Putin. He then issued a warning.
“He made it clear that if I didn’t vote for United Russia I’d lose my job,” said Kaluyeva, a mother of two who lives in a small town south of Moscow.
“I was so shocked I was left speechless. He put me under pressure and hinted that he had ways of checking who I’d voted for. I felt I was back in the Soviet Union.”
As millions of Russians go to the polls to vote for a new Duma, the 450-seat lower house of parliament, the result is a foregone conclusion. United Russia will win by a landslide. The vote, however, is much more than an ordinary parliamentary election.
Putin, who is due to step down in the spring when his second and final term permitted by the constitution ends, has turned the poll into an unofficial referendum on his eight years in power.
The Kremlin and the Russian president are thought to believe that anything less than 65% in favour of United Russia would be regarded as a failure.
There has been mounting evidence that voters have come under intense pressure to vote for United Russia. State employees ranging from teachers to doctors and factory workers have been ordered to cast their ballot for Putin and United Russia or face reprisals, including dismissal or demotion. Russians told: vote for Putin’s party ... or else >>> By Mark Franchetti
Mark Alexander
