Posner: United Russia Summit Recalls Soviet Stagnation

Noted Russian television host Vladimir Posner is inviting Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev to appear on his show to explain how his election as head of the United Russia party, – which he previously was not a member of – was unanimous, Kasparov.ru reports.

Posner said he was astounded to see that the party congress, which drew 670 delegates from Russia’s regions, elected Medvedev as its leader on May 26 without a single dissenting vote.

“In fact, it strongly brought to mind, at least for me, the Communist Party congress that was held during stagnation,” said the host.

He also noted that while voting was secret during Communist Party congresses, “here there wasn’t even that.”

“And not a single vote against him; not one person abstained. You understand that this doesn’t actually happen, right? That whenever there’s a gathering of several hundred people, or even a hundred, one person without fail will be against; one person without fail will abstain,” said Posner.

He asked Medvedev to appear on his show to provide an account of why the voting happened as it did.

“Tell me, Dmitri Anatolevich – you’re the representative of the party; perhaps you could come on my program and explain this to me and to others? It would be terribly interesting and, of course, helpful. It would be fantastic,” he said.

Posner made waves in February when he publically threatened to cancel his show if it continued to be subjected to state censorship.