29.12.2017, Russia.
Major French media has already contested the legitimacy of Russian presidential elections, which are yet to come, Rossa Primavera News Agency reported on December 27.
On December 26, French media published over a dozen articles with almost an identical title: “The Kremlin is defending the ‘legitimacy’ of presidential elections after barring Navalny running for president.” Major media, both globalist and nationally-oriented like Liberation, L’Europe 1, Le Point and Le Figaro published such articles. One can only guess on how the headline, as well as some sentences in the articles, have gained such similarity, being written by different “independent” journalists. Their more creative colleagues from the Le Monde in their review article “Russia: ban on competition in choosing the president…” follow the same propaganda goal of presenting Russian elections as “undemocratic“, and therefore illegal.
A number of techniques are being used. First, Alexey Navalny is proclaimed “the main opposition leader” of all Russia and a “charismatic leader”, whom Putin himself fears. The journalists exaggerate the level of support and intellectual capabilities of the “opposition leader”, while being uncomfortable with providing the real figures on his supporters, as they are unimpressive. That is why they write about “thousands of supporters in different cities of Russia.”
Second, the very Russian legislation is being contested, which meets, incidentally, all international rules on restricting convicted criminal offenders from running for office. The source of this issue is the European Union’s officials in the person of EU Spokesperson Maja Kocijančič, who on December 26, of course, in no way interfering into the Russian presidential campaign, condemned the decision of the Russian CEC (Central Election Commission) and expressed “serious doubt on political pluralism in Russia and the prospect of democratic elections next year.” This statement is of a purely political nature, since it is impossible to call 23 registered candidates as “casting doubts on political pluralism” without putting logical thinking aside.
And finally, third, the same way as during the French presidential campaign of 2017, the media refuses to speak to their reader in substance, and only turns everything into a carnival. Almost no media outlets make the slightest attempt to discuss the political, economic or international agenda of potential candidates. The political process is presented in the form of a theatrical drama with assigned roles, and conflicts get moved to the field of interpersonal relations. The Le Monde’s quote from the Navalny’s Twitter is aimed to show, on the one hand, the courage of the “opposition member”, and on the other hand, to raise his authority by addressing the President in a disrespectful manner, “Putin, you can relish your macho image on TV, but if you feel yellow to meet face to face with your main opponent, your machismo is not worth a penny.” To bark at an elephant, this pug must be a really strong pug! [The line from a well-known Russian fable “Elephant and Pug” by Ivan Krylov, ed.]
French journalists continue to create their own virtual reality instead of trying to analyze the situation and understand why the campaigns of Navalny, into whose actions the united West has been investing funds for almost a decade, have been fruitful. However, in contrast to the winter of 2011 – 2012, they are doing it without enthusiasm. Back then, at the time of unrest on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow, French media spared no efforts. Just remember the picture of a rally on Poklonnaya Square in Moscow, published in Le Figaro and capturing the poster “We support Putin”, which was accompanied by the French translation: “Protests against Putin.”
The media’s weak interest to Ksenia Sobchak’s candidacy “Against all candidates” also remains unclear. So far, only general and neutral information is being provided about her, such as the fact that she is a journalist (forgetting to specify what particular show brought her the dubious prominence) and the daughter of the late Putin’s “mentor” Anatoly Sobchak. Sobchak has clearly not been trusted as an anti-Putin candidate yet. And what if she turns out to be a spoiler for Navalny’s supporters.
In general, the Western media have no strong hope in a breakthrough by the “opposition”.
According to the law, on December 25 the Central Election Commission barred the application of Alexey Navalny to run for president of Russia due to his criminal history. The European Union and the Western media reacted to this legal decision immediately doubting the Russian legislation and the legitimacy of the elections in general. The Press Secretary of the President, Dmitry Peskov responded to these comments as follows, “By no means, the non-participation of one of those wishing to become a candidate due to the fact that his case does not meet legal requirements, in no way can affect the legitimacy of the elections.”
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
