DATE=12/20/1999 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT TITLE=RUSSIA POLITICS NUMBER=5-45060 BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN DATELINE=MOSCOW CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: The Kremlin has hailed Russia's parliamentary elections as a peaceful revolution, after two nominally pro-government factions made strong showings. International observers say the ballot was conducted in a generally fair manner, although they have some reservations. But as V-O-A Moscow correspondent Peter Heinlein reports, independent experts are expressing grave concerns about the result and its possible implications for Russia's future. TEXT: The head of the European security organization's observer mission says Sunday's election was a step forward for Russia's fledgling democracy. But O-S-C-E [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] mission chief Helle Degn notes some disturbing irregularities, including wholesale abuse of the state-run media to bash [attack] anti- government candidates. /// DEGN ACT /// Political associations have in the state- controlled T-V been given free and equal time on T-V. But both in the state T-V channels and the private and commercial media, they have all been very biased. /// END ACT /// Other observers were less charitable in their assessments. Veteran Russia watcher Michael McFaul says the Kremlin's willingness to use the media to destroy political enemies during the campaign left voters with little information about issues facing them. /// 1st McFAUL ACT /// This was probably the worst campaign in terms of violations of voters' rights. What's striking to me is the amazing ability of those in power, the state, that for years we have been talking about being so weak, blah, blah, blah [et cetera]. The state is pretty darn strong. And what's really weak is societal control on the state. /// END ACT /// Experts agree the clear winner in Sunday's vote was a man who was not even participating -- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. In little more than four months, Mr. Putin has replaced the anti-Kremlin leader Yevgeny Primakov as the leading contender for the presidency next year. Michael McFaul believes the Putin phenomenon was created by the Kremlin to turn the anger of Russian voters to their advantage by offering their own powerful protest candidate. /// 2nd McFAUL ACT /// Except it's as if the protest leader, instead of being on the outside, has emerged from the inside of the government, and that's Putin, and that's very important. Maybe it sounds paradoxical, but Putin is not the old system. Putin is against [President Boris] Yeltsin. Putin is against the status quo. Putin is against stagnation. /// END ACT /// Another analyst, Alan Rousso, director of the Moscow Carnegie Center, says he is disturbed by the ease with which the Kremlin created the pro-government Unity bloc from nothing a few months ago, and whipped up massive public support even though voters knew almost nothing about what Unity stands for. /// ROUSSO ACT /// Is it a good thing that a party, which was created three months ago, with no political agenda of its own, save for support of the government and the war in Chechnya, won so many votes? Does that tell us something positive about Russia's future and the state of the electorate. The answer is `no'. /// END ACT /// Mr. Rousso says the Putin phenomenon is a dangerous strategy that could backfire if the war takes a turn for the worse before presidential elections next year, or if members of the hastily-assembled Unity parliamentary delegation turn out to have other allegiances. For the time being, most observers agree the election results give Mr. Putin more room to maneuver, making him a power in his own right. But that too, has a negative side, since the Prime Minister may try to use that new-found strength to challenge other power centers within the Kremlin. (Signed) NEB/PFH/GE/WTW 20-Dec-1999 12:30 PM EDT (20-Dec-1999 1730 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .