VZCZCXRO1716
PP RUEHDBU
DE RUEHMO #0870/01 0601347
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 011347Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7832
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 000870 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/RUS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2017 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM PINR RS
SUBJECT: CENTRAL ELECTION COMMISSION CHAIRMAN OFFERS VIEWS 
ON MARCH REGIONAL ELECTIONS, RFFE 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William J. Burns.  Reason:  1.4 (b). 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (C) Central Election Commission Chairman Aleksandr 
Veshnyakov on February 28 reviewed with Ambassador the 
state-of-play in advance of elections to be held in fourteen 
regions on March 11.  Key points: 
 
-- average of seven parties registered in each region; 
 
-- average of five candidates competing for each slot in 
single-mandate races; 
 
-- Yabloko's problems in St. Petersburg the by-product of 
strict interpretation of the law, local political climate, 
Yabloko's administrative problems; 
 
-- elections are becoming very expensive; 
 
Veshnyakov was cautiously optimistic he will be re-elected 
Chairman when his term expires at the end of March, and 
endorsed the work of the RFFE in election monitoring.  End 
summary. 
 
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Regional Elections:  Summary Figures 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (C) Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairman Aleksandr 
Veshnyakov interrupted a February 28 session devoted to 
resolving three complaints about the March 11 regional 
elections in order to offer the Ambassador his views on the 
election process.  The number of parties registered for the 
14-district, March 11 elections ranges from five to eight, 
Veshnyakov said.  In those regions still staging 
single-mandate races, an average of five candidates are 
slated to compete for each slot.  United Russia, For a Just 
Russia, the Communist Party, and the Liberal Democratic Party 
have passed muster in all fourteen districts.  Patriots of 
Russia has been registered in eleven races, the Union of 
Right Forces in seven contests, and Yabloko in four 
elections. 
 
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SPS, Yabloko Problems 
--------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) Veshnyakov noted that SPS had encountered registration 
difficulties in Samara, Pskov, Dagestan, Vologda, and Tyumen. 
 The CEC had reversed the Samara regional election 
commission's decision, but saw no reason to do so in the 
other contests.  SPS had admitted to the CEC that its failure 
to be registered in Tyumen was the result of an oversight by 
an SPS official. 
 
¶4. (C) Veshnyakov had traveled to Pskov in response to 
Yabloko's allegation that it had been forced from the race. 
He found no substance to the complaint.  In response to the 
Ambassador's inquiry, Veshnyakov noted that the party's 
well-publicized failure to be registered in St. Petersburg 
was the by-product of "extremely strict registration 
standards" and poor administrative work by Yabloko. 
Veshnyakov termed the 90 million ruble registration deposit 
(available to parties that do not want to gather signatures 
in order to qualify for the ballot) "too high."  It was 1.5 
times higher than the deposit required to participate in a 
federal election, he noted.  Veshnyakov scored as well the 
procedure used for vetting signatures, which he thought was 
too strict, and forced Yabloko to fabricate signatures in 
order to qualify. The election process in St. Petersburg was 
"not well organized," Veshnyakov summed up. 
 
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Pressure in St. Petersburg 
-------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Elections in Russia were increasingly expensive 
affairs, Veshnyakov said.  As of February 20, the six 
registered parties in St. Petersburg had a combined campaign 
war chest of 434 million rubles (approximately USD 15 
million).  For a Just Russia's share totaled 200 million 
rubles, 90 million of which had been used for the 
registration deposit.  United Russia's current account in St. 
Petersburg totaled 120 million rubles, which it could spend 
as it chose.  The conduct of the St. Petersburg election to 
date had convinced Veshnyakov that the State Duma should 
 
MOSCOW 00000870  002 OF 002 
 
 
re-examine provisions of the electoral law that allowed local 
authorities latitude in establishing registration and 
campaign finance benchmarks. 
 
¶6. (C) Behind the fierce struggle in St. Petersburg, 
Veshnyakov thought, was the contest between For a Just Russia 
and Federation Council Chairman Sergey Mironov and State Duma 
and United Russia Chairman Boris Gryzlov.  A weak showing by 
Just Russia could mean that Mironov would lose title to the 
Federation Council Chairmanship, and that had added to the 
importance of the contest.  The March elections were, in any 
event, a "dress rehearsal" for the December Duma contest, and 
would be watched carefully for what they would suggest about 
its outcome.  As a result, members of the St. Petersburg 
regional election commission (REC) were operating in 
"difficult political conditions," which had led to eight 
complaints, to date, about decisions taken. Most had been 
found valid by the CEC and Veshnyakov had, accordingly, 
reprimanded the St. Petersburg REC.  He was generally 
satisfied with the work of the other RECs. 
 
------------------------ 
Role of Law on Extremism 
------------------------ 
 
¶7. (C) Veshnyakov briefly described one of the complaints the 
CEC had discussed on February 28.  United Russia had alleged 
to the Commission that an SPS campaign ad had violated the 
law on extremism.  The offending advertisement had alleged 
that pensions should total 10 thousand rubles, but in fact 
are only 2 thousand rubles per month, which implied that 
United Russia was pocketing the difference.  The CEC found no 
violation of the law in SPS's campaign advertisement. 
 
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New CEC Term 
------------ 
 
¶8. (C) In response to the Ambassador's question about the end 
of the CEC's term on March 26, Veshnyakov described himself 
as "satisfied" with his current staff which had worked 
"professionally and responsibly."  The five current members 
who serve on the recommendation of the Federation Council had 
been re-nominated.  The Duma had renewed the contracts of 
three of its five allotted members.  Veshnyakov expected that 
three of the Duma CEC members would be members of United 
Russia, with one each from the Communist Party and the 
Liberal Democrats.  He expected that President Putin would 
nominate his five candidates by mid-March.  Veshnyakov was 
cautiously optimistic that he would retain the chairmanship, 
and he was pleased that he had won Duma Chairman Gryzlov's 
agreement that the CEC chairmanship should be held by a 
delegate who is not a member of the governing, United Russia 
party.  A United Russia chairman would discredit the CEC in 
the eyes of voters and the other political parties, 
Veshnyakov thought. 
 
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Role for NGO Observers 
---------------------- 
 
¶9. (C) The Ambassador recalled assurances Veshnyakov had 
given at their last meeting that political parties would be 
willing to sponsor NGO nominees as election observers. 
Subsequent statements by party leaders suggested that was not 
the case, he said.  In his just-completed trip to St. 
Petersburg, representatives of United Russia, the Communist 
Party, For a Just Russia, the Liberal Democratic Party, and 
Patriots of Russia had told Veshnyakov they planned to post 
observers at each polling station.  Such an approach, 
Veshnyakov thought, would require the parties to canvass for 
non-party observers, even in the regional elections.  NGO 
observers would be a necessity for all parties in the 
national, December Duma elections, Veshnyakov maintained. 
 
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Praise for RFFE 
--------------- 
 
¶10. (C) While in St. Petersburg and Pskov, Veshnyakov had 
inspected the hotlines operated by the Russian Federation for 
Free Elections (RFFE).  He found them to be professionally 
staffed and offering concrete, objective advice to questions 
asked.  Veshnyakov believed that RFFE would play an important 
role in ensuring a more neutral electoral environment. 
BURNS