No European Spring in the cards for Russia

TEHRAN, Dec. 18 (MNA) -- The recent parliamentary election in Russia provided a good opportunity for the Western media to connect the Russian situation to what is happening in the Middle East and North Africa under the name of the Arab Spring. Moscow’s disputes with the West, especially with Washington, over a number of issues, such as the establishment of a NATO defense shield, Georgia’s potential accession to NATO, and Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization, provided excellent pretexts for Western media outlets to create controversy during Russia’s parliamentary election. But Russian voters have become accustomed to the Western approach toward their political system and barely pay attention to such criticism. However, the flaws in the Russian electoral system are accepted by both the politicians and the voters. The current system is dominated by Russia’s four major parties, which won the majority of votes in the recent election. Even the Yabloko party, headed by the pro-Western liberal politician Grigory Yavlinsky, failed to attain the five percent of the vote required to obtain seats in parliament. Other major political figures, including Garry Kasparov, also were not able to win seats in parliament. This will create many problems for the Russian political system in the future. Russia’s most popular figure, Vladimir Putin, also experienced a sharp decline in the votes cast for his party, United Russia. Thus, the future government should focus more on the process of reform. Otherwise, it will have to face major popular demonstrations. The situation in Syria is another point of disagreement between the Western powers and Russia. And the imposition of pressure on Moscow over the flaws in the recent parliamentary election is in fact a direct reflection of this dispute. However, the future government of Russia will not be affected by any incidents like what is happening in the Arab world. Putin is still regarded as a very popular politician, especially among the lower classes of society. Moreover, the West is very unpopular in the country and most Russian citizens are opposed to the Western way of governance and politics. Therefore, it is unlikely that Russia will be affected by what the Western media call the European Spring.