Dr Alex Pravda on the Russian elections

As the Russian elections began, Alex Pravda discussed recent protests against the authorities and the electoral process in The World Today programme of BBC World Service (04 March, 2012).

Regarding the protests, Alex said, Its the middle classes, its the younger middle classes as well as the older, who are up in arms as it were, but peacefully, on the streets saying You cant just take us for granted. You cant just select people for elected office. And you cant cheat.

The discussion centred around the possibility of electoral fraud and the mechanisms by the Russian authorities as well as outside monitors to give some assurance to the people that the voting process would not be rigged.

The full programme can be heard here (c. 27:00 on the iPlayer clock).