RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – March 30, 2011
TODAY: Putin supporter given United Russia seat; Strategy 31 to set new target; EU-Russia Civil Society Forum inaugurated; Medvedev warns terrorists, Umarov not killed in strike; Russia not invited to Libya meeting; radioactive iodine found in Russia’s Far East; U.S.-Russia visa relaxation still possible; 2010 heatwave death toll.
Boris Gryzlov says it is important that ‘people with different backgrounds‘ can win seats in the United Russia party; Yelena Lapshina, a weaver from the Ivanovo region, was apparently awarded a seat after demanding that the constitution be amended to allow Vladimir Putin to serve a third term. Lyudmila Alexeyeva says that the end of the Strategy 31 rallies represents a victory for the constitutional right to free assembly, now that the new Moscow Mayor’s administration has started granting permits for the group to gather, and that the group intends to launch a new campaign for ‘honest elections‘. Eduard Limonov insists that he will not join the group, saying that ‘we have not obtained freedom of assembly, it is obvious.‘ Fair elections would certainly strengthen Russia’s business reputation, says a U.S. analyst. RFE/RL reports on the new EU-Russia Civil Society Forum, set up to regulate dialogue between the two sides on human rights issues.