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Independent out of the Duma

- The Independents will be pushed out of the Duma in the Russian election 2. December, predicts Aage Storm Borchgrevink.




(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)

The electoral law has been changed before the election of the Russian National Assembly, the Duma, 2. December. This makes it much more difficult for opposition politicians like Sergei Kovaljov to come in.

"Kovalev is perhaps the most meritorious, important and courageous human rights defender in Europe," writes Aage Storm Borchgrevink in an excerpt from his new book The Invisible War, which Ny Tid publishes this week (see page 30).

- Kovaljov has now returned to politics, and is currently campaigning here in the North Caucasus, Borchgrevink says over a shabby telephone line. Kovalev is in second place on the list for Jabloko, one of the liberal parties.

- But they are unlikely to cross the bar, Borchgrevink thinks.

Prior to this election, the barrier limit was raised to seven per cent. In the old electoral system, regional constituencies also played an important role, but this has also changed, making it much more difficult for small parties to come in and speak from the Duma's pulpit.

In the latest polls, only two parties seem certain to get in: Putin's party "United Russia" is leaning to a pure majority, with just over 50 percent, and the Communists, now at about ten percent.

- "United Russia" will be almost as hegemonic in the future as the Communists were in the old days. The independent representatives will be pushed out of the Duma, Borchgrevink believes.

80 percent of Russians believe Putin is doing a good job, according to the latest poll in The Moscow Times.

In the book excerpt, Kovaljov also comes up strongly with the Nobel Peace Prize, which he believes has become a fruit prize. Kovaljov believes the Nobel Committee is trying to balance three hundred years of colonialism by rewarding female African gardeners.

Borchgrevink thinks Kovaljov should have received the award.

- Yes, I think Kovalev has earned the Nobel Peace Prize. This does not mean that I do not think those who have received the award in recent years have deserved it.

- What effect do you think such an award could have?

- Potentially it could have had great significance, a peace prize would have given a signal that Kovalev's values ​​are threatened, just as threatened as when Andrei Sakharov received the prize in 1975, says Borchgrevink.

The Invisible War is not the only Chechnya book of the book harvest. Former New Time columnist Anna Politkovskaya's "My Russian Testament" has recently been published in Norwegian translation and on November 17 Åsne Seierstad's Chechnya book will be published, which has already been sold to 10 other countries before launch. ■ See also pages 30 – 34.

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