PACE Urges Media Access For Russian Opposition

PACE President Rene van der Linden (file photo) (Bymedia.net) August 1, 2007 -- A top European human rights body has urged Russia to provide all parties equal access to the media during upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections.

Speaking in Moscow on July 31, Rene van der Linden, the president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), said the body will closely monitor the level of access to the media given to the opposition.

"It is up to the media and the authorities to ensure that all parties who take part in the elections have the opportunity to express their opinion," van der Linden said.

Russia's parliamentary elections are scheduled for December 2007, and the presidential vote in March 2008.

(AFP)

Russia Beyond 2008

President Putin is mulling his political future (epa)

THE 2008 QUESTION: President Vladimir Putin's second term of office ends in the spring of 2008. Since the Russian Constitution bars him from seeking a third consecutive term, this event threatens to present a crisis in a country that has a history of managed power transitions. Already, Russian politics are dominated by the ominous 2008 question.
RFE/RL's Washington office hosted a briefing to discuss the prospects of Putin seeking a third term. The featured speakers were RFE/RL Communications Director Don Jensen and political scientist Peter Reddaway of George Washington University.