Scandal as Putin MPs set to stay in power
Vladimir Putin’s ruling party are expected to hold on to power in tomorrow’s elections amid claims of threats against opponents.
Russia has allowed more opposition candidates to stand for parliament than in previous elections.
Some have been given airtime on dissent- free state TV.
But Mikhail Kasyanov, leader of the PARNAS party and Put in cr it ic, was attacked in a restaurant by two men with cream pies and a sex tape was leaked to embarrass him.
He said: “The authorities think they should create some kind of picture that elections are free and fair in accordance with international standards.”
President Putin’s United Russia party won 49 per cent of the vote for the State Duma last time and hold 53 per cent of the seats.
They are supported by the r i g ht - wi n g L ib e r a l Democratic party, who have 56 seats.
The sole liberal opposition MP, Dmitry Gudkov, fears he will lose his seat after failing to secure TV air time.
His meetings have been disrupted by hecklers and a fake newspaper attempted to discredit him.
Many parties have still been excluded after their paperwork was rejected.
I n Febr ua r y 2 015 , opposition f igure Boris Nemtsov was gunned down.
And in May last year, opposition figure Vladimir Kara- Murza, cla imed K reml in suppor ter s poisoned him.
That’s not to sound like a massive snob – fair play to you if you always have – but I just didn’t.
Things like the Great British Bake Off, Strictly Come Dancing and I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here just reminded me too much of being a wee 14-year- old punk rocker back in Irvine. Still too young to go out on a Saturday night, stuck on the sofa with my family and the Generation Game, wondering how anyone could sit around watching such mind-numbing rubbish.
It was like the bit in Trainspotting when Renton’s parents are glued to some TV show, his dad saying, ‘SEE? I KNEW HE WAS GONNAE DAE THAT!’
Back then, in the early 80s, I was already dreaming of the day soon come When I’d Be Out Every Single Saturday Night.
Probably at a bar in London with Joe Strummer, Paul Weller and a unicorn. I just wanted to live and I wanted to love. I wanted to catch something that I might beashamedofandallbeashamedofandall thatthat. WellWell, tthat day (sort of) came and now has gone.
As I was saying just the other week: If you’re in your pyjamas on the sofa on a Saturday night when you’re 21, you feel like the world’s biggest loser. The same thing once you’re much over 40 qualifies as a total result.
And, as anyone with small children will tell you, Saturday night TV, the kind of stuff you can watch with your kids, can be a godsend.
(Mum, dad, I get it now. I get why it was fun for you to watch The Generation Game with us. I’m sorry for being such a grumpy, horrible wee snob.)
I’m slowly coming to the point here (trust me). TV shows like this are (obviously) not art but they do carry some cultural weight.
They’re a multi-generational focus point for the nation, something we all talk about, a rare common experience in these days of splintered multimedia when it’s all too easy for an entire family to be on different devices, experiencing different things, in separate rooms.
I think that’s why it felt kind of right for the Great British Bake Off to be on the BBC.
That’s why the news last week that the