On Parties and Elections
“I read in the newspaper about yet another attack on Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP). In short, the state, acting through the courts, interfered in the party’s internal affairs and forcibly replaced its chair with someone more acceptable to the authorities, while the police carried out the court decision, effectively seizing the party headquarters in a raid-like takeover.
All this once again illustrates the thesis that the main mechanism for controlling elections under electoral authoritarianism is the removal and exclusion of candidates dangerous to the authorities, rather than direct falsification of election results. It should be said that Turkish elections are held quite honestly, especially in comparison with those at home. And Erdogan cannot simply ban the CHP — the main opposition party, which is currently leading in the polls. But he can weaken it by removing its popular leader and splitting it up, which is what he is doing. And he eliminated his main potential opponent in the presidential race — Istanbul mayor Imamoglu from the same CHP — a year ago here.
Naturally, state interference in the internal life of political parties, and even legal regulation of their internal structure, is unacceptable — that is a matter for the parties themselves. In Russia, the regime’s side is served in the effort to restrain and control political parties by Federal Law No. 95-FZ of 11 June 2001, ‘On Political Parties,’ which effectively places questions of creating and dissolving a party, or transferring power within it, under the strict control of the Ministry of Justice, through which the Presidential Administration acts. Not long ago I wrote here about R. Shaykhutdinov: his takeover of the Civic Platform party, founded by M. Prokhorov, is a good example of the regime’s control over party activity. Alexei Navalny’s numerous unsuccessful attempts to register his own party are another such example. So the specific circumstances may differ greatly, but the methods of authoritarian regimes with an electoral component are largely similar.
Yours, Vasya N., SIZO-1, St. Petersburg”
- — even after death, remains on Rosfinmonitoring’s list of “terrorists and extremists.”