Eurasia Daily Monitor

October 11, 2007 — Volume 4, Issue 188

THE KREMLIN’S CANDIDATE FOR PACE’S PRESIDENCY

by Vladimir Socor

Mikhail Margelov, a politician close to the Kremlin and prominent in
the United Russia party of power, seems set to take over the presidency of
the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), the leading democracy
and human-rights watchdog in Europe.

An inside arrangement shepherded by the outgoing PACE chairman, Rene
van der Linden, has reserved PACE’s chair for Margelov for a two-year term
starting in January 2008. The arrangement also rests on support from British
Tories in the Strasbourg-based PACE, whether ignored or condoned by the
Conservative Party leadership in Britain.

The opening of PACE’s autumn session this month has thrust this
arrangement from backstage into the open. The Russian delegation’s behavior
early in this session reflects confidence that a Margelov presidency is
irreversible. By the same token, the numerous opponents of a Margelov
presidency at PACE seem scattered and demoralized. Such conclusions on
either side are probably premature, however.

The arrangement for a Kremlin-connected figure to supervise democracy
in Europe is unprecedented in any institution anywhere. At PACE, it has
emerged partly from the political designs of some individuals, partly from
sheer bureaucratic momentum trumping democracy, and partly from Russian
heavy-handed tactics, abetted passively by some West Europeans in the
Strasbourg assembly.

Although Margelov’s party, United Russia, embodies the Kremlin’s
`managed democracy,’ Margelov managed to become chairman of PACE’s European
Democrats’ Group (EDG), a conservative caucus built by British Tories at
PACE. The EDG’s immediate past chairman, David Atkinson, helped arrange for
Margelov to take over that post in 2005 on Atkinson’s retirement. Moreover,
ambitious to increase EDG’s numerical weight relative to other caucuses in
PACE, the Tories and a few others invited the Russian delegation to join EDG
en masse. The well-disciplined United Russia duly allocated 27 members, out
of PACE’s 36 Russian members, to join EDG, thus becoming overnight the
dominant force in this 91-member Conservative group. Tories, of whom there
are only 11 in EDG, retain the posts of honorary chair, first-vice-chair,
and political officer [whip] thanks to United Russia.

Under PACE’s rules, the political caucuses rotate in holding PACE’s
presidency at three-year intervals. Van der Linden held the presidency in
2005-2007 on behalf of the European People’s Party (an alliance mainly of
Christian-Democrat parties). It is now EDG’s turn, and with Margelov in
control there, he is next in line for the PACE presidency on procedural
grounds. Although Margelov and his United Russia are wide open to challenge
on basic democracy criteria, van der Linden provided crucial help to arrange
a smooth succession for Margelov as PACE president.

Meanwhile, Russia is massively breaching the commitments it undertook
to the Council of Europe in 1996 as conditions to Russia’s membership. PACE’
s monitoring mechanism has become chronically complacent on that account,
and PACE’s credibility eroded as a result. Its credibility could now suffer
irreparable damage if PACE installs Russia, Europe’s prime offender to PACE’
s values, in this institution’s presidency.

The credibility issue would quickly come to the fore if Margelov and
Konstantin Kosachev, the head of Russia’s delegation to PACE, misuse this
institution for propaganda against the Baltic states, Georgia, the United
States, and U.S. allies The Russian delegation’s conduct seems to reflect
this intention since the opening of PACE’s autumn session in the first week
of October.

Thus, Kosachev has called for:

a) reintroducing PACE monitoring of Estonia and Latvia over `human
rights violations’;

b) discussing on PACE’s floor `political persecutions’ in Georgia,
based on former defense minister Irakli Okruashvili’s imputations of
criminal acts to President Mikheil Saakashvili (which Okruashvili failed to
substantiate and then retracted entirely on October 8 — see Rustavi-2 TV,
Civil Georgia, October 8, 9);

c) raising at PACE the issue of use of military force by the United
States `and its allies’; and

d) condemning the planned U.S. anti-missile defense installations in
Poland and the Czech Republic.

Kosachev is also a member of the Conservative EDG at PACE. Margelov
and Kosachev are acting in concert in their twin capacities as chairmen of
the Russian Duma and Federation Council committees on international affairs.

Alone among the Council of Europe’s 47 member countries, Russia has
not ratified Protocol 14 to the European Human Rights Convention, thereby
delaying by years the processing of Russian cases at the European Court on
Human Rights (ECHR). Margelov and Kosachev claim that they personally favor
Russian ratification, but since the Duma rejects it, they propose modifying
the Protocol to facilitate Duma ratification. By this logic, the 46
countries that did ratify the document would have to cancel their
ratification and redraft a weaker document in line with Russia’s goals at
ECHR.

Margelov has confirmed matter-of-factly to Russian media that Russia’s
presidential administration and Ministry of Foreign Affairs have authorized
his candidacy to PACE’s presidency (Moskovsky novosti, September 14).
Margelov’s admission reflects the absence of separation of powers in Russia.
His full equanimity about this situation should instantly disqualify his
candidacy to PACE’s presidency. It would unthinkable for a legislator from a
democratic country to depend on executive branch approval for seeking
election to a parliamentary or inter-parliamentary post. However, Margelov’s
backers at PACE seem prepared to compromise the organization’s standards for
the Kremlin-authorized candidate.

(Interfax, September 24 – October 9; Itar-Tass, October 1;
Parlamentskaya gazeta, October 2)

–Vladimir Socor