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Journalism of Courage
Plans for television and radio debates ahead of Russia’s presidential poll on March 2 have been thrown into disarray with front-runner Dmitry Medvedev, rejecting the idea.
The official media campaign for presidential poll will begin on February 2 and finish on February 29. Six television and radio stations will provide free airtime for campaign debates during prime time.
A member of his campaign team told reporters on Tuesday that Medvedev had informed the Russian Central Election Commission he would not take part in the joint events of TV debates with his opponents.
His rivals denounced the decision as unfair, saying it would make it even harder for opposition candidates to gain airtime to get across their views.
Medvedev, backed by President Vladimir Putin, is already far ahead of all his opponents in poll surveys..
Official campaign rules stipulates live television debates among candidates contesting the election. But Putin and his United Russia Party never participated in television debates, claiming they saw no worthy partners to debate with.
Medvedev is competing with Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, ultranationalist LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky and little-known independent Andrei Bogdanov.
Medvedev’s decision made TV campaign debates pointless, Communist Party leader Ivan Melnikov said, adding Zyuganov would not debate without Medvedev.
However, some experts said Medvedev’s refusal of television debates was justified.
“Medvedev is aware of the fact that he dominates the election campaign in the political process, and therefore, participation in television debates would mean for him support of the other candidates,” General Director of the Agency for Political and Economic Communications Dmitry Orlov told Interfax news agency.
