This is simply unbearable. Last night, I heard on the radio playing in my cell that, after 80% of the ballots had been counted in the Primorye gubernatorial election, Communist Party candidate Andrei Ishchenko was in the lead, ahead of the United Russia candidate by 6%.
My cellmates and I happily talked about how brilliantly the people of Primorye had humiliated the Party of Crooks and Thieves (a popular opposition nickname for United Russia).
I also told everyone that the media had reported that Tarasenko in Primorye was the most important to Putin of all the pro-government candidates who had failed to “win” (cheat their way through) in the first round — some kind of favorite of his. So, for his victory, the Kremlin would resort to any fraud. That is why the election there was scheduled not for September 23, like everywhere else, but for the 16th.
We went to sleep. In the morning we woke up — and just like that, the United Russia candidate had “won.”
They control the media, handpick the candidates, and jail people over likes on social media — and still they cannot win an election. Only like this: by crudely rewriting the vote tallies at 5 in the morning.
The blatant and brazen falsification of the election results in Primorsky Krai is a direct insult not only to the people of that region, but to the entire country.
This is no longer just election fraud — we have grown used to that. This is a deliberate act of contempt toward the people.
This cannot be tolerated.
I call on all residents of Vladivostok to come today, and every day, to the square in front of the administration building. And on Saturday, bring the whole city there and do not leave until the election results reflect how people actually voted, not what the United Russia officials fabricated.
I call on residents of other cities in Primorye to travel to Vladivostok and take part in the protests, or organize them in their own cities.
I call on everyone to forget ideological differences for now — it does not matter at all which party Ishchenko represents. The only thing that matters is that people voted for him. That means he, and no one else, must become governor.
I call on the Communist Party deputies in the State Duma to come and remain in the square alongside the people, protecting them.
Do not be afraid of crackdowns and detentions. How many people can they detain and jail in Vladivostok? A thousand, perhaps. Ten thousand will come to take their place.
Remember that, in reality, Interior Ministry officers are just as outraged by the fraud as everyone else.
I urge everyone not to trust the Central Election Commission under any circumstances, or the lying witch Pamfilova. All this talk of “send us your complaints, we will review them and make a decision” is a trick and a deception. It is just a way to drag things out and then install the United Russia candidate as governor by one means or another. If the Central Election Commission did its job properly, there would be no need for any rallies.
I call on the residents of Vladimir Oblast, Khakassia, and Khabarovsk Krai to do everything they can to hand United Russia an even more crushing defeat in their regions than in Primorye.
I call on everyone in the country to give moral and informational support to the people of Primorye, and, if necessary, to take to the streets on their behalf. It was not just their election that was stolen — it was stolen from the whole country.