Ahmed Mostafa writes
The Russian presidential elections are one of the most crucial global political events of 2024 and will have economic, political, social, and strategic implications inside and outside Russia. Accordingly, the Russian authorities warn against any external middling in that respect and consider it a hostile act if it occurs. Through the two experts, Dr. Khattar Abu Diab (Monte Carlo Political Advisor) and Dr. Ahmed Moustafa (Director of the Asia Center for Studies and Translation), we will discuss this topic in the “Monte Carlo Debate”, which was broadcast live at 5:30 PM Paris time, Monday, March 11, 2024.
The recent attack on Egyptian monks in South Africa is being described as a “terrorist operation” orchestrated by evil forces, namely America, Britain, and Israel, who are believed to be the creators of global terrorism, from groups like “Al-Qaeda” to “ISIS.” This operation aims to tarnish the reputation of South Africa, which has taken a leading role in advocating for the rights of Palestinians at the International Court of Justice. This unfortunate incident has the potential to strain relations between Egypt and the Christian communities in the Middle East from one side, and South Africa from the other side. Furthermore, South Africa’s standing within the African Union may be affected due to its repeated exclusion of Israel as an observer in the annual African Union Summit held in Ethiopia. South Africa, inspired by the leadership of Abdel Nasser, has taken it upon itself to champion the cause of Palestine in the absence of Arab and Muslim nations. This exposure of the conspiracy is now evident and undeniable.
The Debate
There are accusations made by Russian intelligence against US intelligence for interfering in the presidential elections. Is there a concern from Russia regarding this point specifically?
Abu Diab: There is no danger to the Russian elections at all, as the majority of the candidates resemble President Putin or are from the same stream as him, so there is no real opposition. Because the main oppositionist died in prison, I mean “Navalny”, however, as for interventions, they always happen between the major powers. On the other hand, the United States fears Russian middling in return, as happened previously.
Does the issue of interventions cover the issue of the Russian internal opposition?
Ahmed Moustafa: Who among us does not remember, if we were talking about the internal opposition, what happened to the members of the “Occupy” group in the United States in 2011? Are they not currently in American prisons, and no one hears anything about them, and the rest have been eliminated? Let us also talk about the crimes and terrorism committed by former candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016, including human trafficking and the implantation of ISIS in Iraq and Syria. What is the role of the United States in monitoring these people like Hillary? Also, spending in 2020 on the US presidential elections reached more than $15.5 billion, according to the Open Secrets website.
Are there not similar amounts spent in Russia on the presidential elections?
Ahmed Moustafa: This is not possible, because inflation rates and external debt are much higher in America compared to Russia. A salary of about 1,000 US dollars in Russia may be equivalent to 5,000 dollars in America because Russia is a country of abundance. Also, about 58 countries monitored the presidential elections in Russia in 2018. Surveillance cameras were on all electoral ballots, and there is democracy and freedom of expression, which I witnessed inside Russia.
My question here is (Who monitors the elections in Britain and America?) We have not heard of this number of international observers monitoring their elections. The main problem is, who is monitoring whom? Because the West believes that as long as it has established the standards and foundations of democracy and freedom of expression, thus no one can monitor them. But unfortunately, it overthrew them through the “Ukraine and Gaza crises” and showed its shame to the world through “double standards and the absence of democracy and human rights” as well.
Statements of David Cameron, British Prime Minister, in 2011 when the unrest occurred, said, “Let democracy and human rights go to hell, however, the security of Britain should be maintained.”
In the West, they consider these elections to be formal. What do you think?
Abu Diab: Of course, it is an internal matter and each has its own model. There are countries with a 95% voter rate and formal democracy that are disguised dictatorships. Despite the influence of the financial lobby there in America, the opinion of the American voter is important and there are controls – but democracies are in decline and dictatorships are advancing, especially with the crack of globalization – and there are countries that save themselves these experiences, such as “China”, for example, which does not have elections and that The Communist Party decides the game as if it were an imperial regime – and the same is true in (Iran and Russia) with any elections the leader or Putin will rule, and with the mutual accusations between the major countries and each other, these machinations come within the major political game.
Just before the Russian elections, Sweden joined NATO, and the commander of the Russian naval fleet was dismissed. In return, there is progress for the Russian army and Russia in its war on Ukraine, which is appropriate for President Putin to win the elections. What do you think about these matters?
Ahmed Moustafa: NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg is just a puppet in the hands of America as well as Western European countries, and his statements regarding supplying Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets exposed him to criticism and perhaps the threat of dismissal from some American officials who labeled these statements as “disappointing.” America is one of the most corrupt democracies in the world, and my previous friendship with “Peter Lyden,” Obama’s election campaign advisor, assured me that to be president of America, you must have an amount of no less than $100 million. Is this available to the rest of the American citizens, or is it the presidency and high positions? Reserved for songs only?! I remind you that even during the coronavirus pandemic, which America caused for some purpose, Russia was the first through its Ministry of Defense laboratories to produce the protective vaccine, which even German diplomats in Russia obtained. Due to the confidence available at the time on the Russian side, this is according to the testimony of the German political advisor, “Dr. Kordach” in Moscow. Likewise, the package of economic and social rights and constitutional amendments that Russia approved in 2020, while the West was unaware, gave many rights to Russian citizens and empowered Russian women even more. These are Russia’s achievements that convince the Russian voter, especially Russia’s level of economic progress despite the sanctions that harmed the West more than Russia, as well as the preservation of Russia’s sovereignty.
Does this affect the ballots in Russia?
Dr. Khattar: Perhaps some of the mothers and women of some soldiers will not go to the elections, nor the families of the opponents, who are few, but the majority will go because everything mentioned gave Putin and gave Russia strength, especially in the economic file and circumventing sanctions, and a large percentage believed in the importance of the matter and the Ukrainian issue will not affect it. . But what will affect the future is Putin’s power to continue to extend his influence over Russia. Russia may have been shaken by what happened with the “Wagner Forces,” but with Putin’s power and Chinese support, he was able to overcome all of this.
But regarding files on the oppositionists and what happened at Navalny’s funeral and the families of the Ukrainian soldiers – what do you think?
Ahmed Moustafa: What you are saying is freedom of expression itself, and these were not restricted – I faced Navalny’s team in 2021 – and he was classified as a political activist, but he was a Nazi to the core, and he was removed from “Amnesty International” because of videos he published against Arabs, Muslims, and Africans in Russia, and that Russia is only for the Varangians (White Russians and Ukrainians only), please check this for yourselves. Where is freedom of expression in Britain, for example, when the BBC presenter ended the dialogue with a member of the British Labor Party when we spoke honestly about the issue of Gaza?
Comparative studies are very important. There is actual opposition in Russia, but where is the opposition in Britain with the corruption of the Labor Party, the overthrow of Jeremy Corbyn, and the appointment of a Zionist as head of the party? Where is the opposition with two American candidates of great-grandparents whose affairs have been decided in America? Even in France, Mélenchon, the leader of the left, sold himself to Emmanuel Macron in the presidential elections last spring.
The problem with the Russian opposition, and I was a master’s student in Russian studies at a university classified as a Russian opposition (Higher School of Economics), is that it is fragmented and not unified, and each one has its agenda. For example, in the 2018 Russian presidential elections, 7 candidates were facing President Putin, what if they had allied themselves? It is worth noting that I conducted a “debate for the Russian presidential elections” at Cairo University before the elections were held in the same year.
