Putin's Party Wins Russia Election

Russian President's Party Wins 62.9% In Parliamentary Elections; Critics Point To Voting Irregularities

(AP)  Vladimir Putin's party won a crushing victory in parliamentary elections Sunday, paving the way for the authoritarian leader to remain in control even after he steps down as president.

The vote followed a tense Kremlin campaign that relied on a combination of persuasion and intimidation to ensure victory for the United Russia party and for Putin, who has used a flood of oil revenues to move his country onto a more assertive position on the global stage.

"The vote affirmed the main idea: that Vladimir Putin is the national leader, that the people support his course, and this course will continue," party leader and parliament speaker Boris Gryzlov said after exit polls were announced.

Several opposition leaders accused the Kremlin of rigging the vote, and the Bush administration called for a probe into voting irregularities. Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov called the election "the most irresponsible and dirty" in the post-Soviet era.

With ballots from 54.7 percent of precincts counted, United Russia was leading with 62.9 percent, while the Communists -- the only opposition party to win seats -- trailed with 11.7 percent, the Central Election Commission said. Exit polls seemed to corroborate the partial results.

The Kremlin portrayed the election as a plebiscite on Putin's nearly eight years as president, with the promise that a major victory would allow him somehow to remain leader after his second term ends next year.

Putin is constitutionally prohibited from running for a third consecutive term, but he clearly wants to stay in power. A movement has sprung up in recent weeks to urge him to become a "national leader," though what duties and powers that would entail are unclear.

Pollsters said United Russia's performance would give it an overwhelming majority of 306 seats in the 450-seat State Duma, or lower house. The Communists would have 57 seats.

Two other pro-Kremlin parties -- the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party and populist Just Russia -- also appeared to have made it into parliament, with 9 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively, in the early count.

One Liberal Democratic Party deputy will be Andrei Lugovoi, a former KGB officer and chief suspect in the poisoning death of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London last year. Russia has refused to hand Lugovoi over to Britain, and the Duma seat provides him with immunity from prosecution.

No other parties passed the 7 percent threshold for gaining seats in the legislature. Both opposition liberal parties were shut out, predicted to win no more than 2 or 3 percent of the vote each.

Many Russians complained Sunday about being pressured to cast their ballots, with teachers, doctors and others saying they had been ordered by their bosses to vote at their workplaces.

"People are being forced and threatened to vote; otherwise they won't get their salaries or pensions," said Boris Nemtsov, leader of the liberal Union of Right Forces party.

Dozens of voters reported being paid to cast ballots for United Russia, said Alexander Kynev, a political expert with election monitoring group Golos. In the town of Pestovo in the western Novgorod region, voters complained they were given ballots already filled out for United Russia, he said.

In Chechnya, where turnout was over 99 percent, witnesses reported seeing election authorities filling out and casting voter ballots in the suburbs of the regional capital, Grozny.

There was a tense, subdued mood at some polling stations. Yelena, a 32-year-old manager in St. Petersburg, refused to give her last name out of fear of official retaliation for voting for the liberal Yabloko party.

"We live in a country with an absence of democracy and freedom of speech," she said.

Many voters were reluctant to discuss their vote, a shift since the late 1980s, when Russians complained loudly about their government. One elderly woman, a veteran of a defense research institute, refused to give her name and only admitted that she had voted for Yabloko when she was certain no one else was listening.

The authorities, she said, would not let Yabloko win seats.

"That's why we have about 300 fools, I'm sorry to say, in our Duma," she said. "And I don't believe Putin: He is an ordinary man, we must not give him absolute power."

The Kremlin appeared determined to engineer a resounding victory. But Putin, credited with rebuilding Russia after the poverty and uncertainty of the 1990s, has support from many Russians.

"Today everything is clear and stable in life. The president's words always coincide with what he does. As for the other candidates we don't know yet where they would take us to," said Raisa Tretyakova, a 61-year-old pensioner in St. Petersburg.

The Bush administration Sunday called on Russia to investigate claims the vote was manipulated.

"In the runup to election day, we expressed our concern regarding the use of state administrative resources in support of United Russia, the bias of the state-owned or influenced media in favor of United Russia, intimidation of political opposition, and the lack of equal opportunity encountered by opposition candidates and parties," said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National Security Council.

Turnout was about 62 percent Sunday, the Central Elections Commission said, up from 56 percent in the last parliamentary elections four years ago.

All seats will be awarded according to the percentage of the vote each party receives; in previous elections, half the seats were chosen among candidates contesting a specific district, allowing a few mavericks to get in. About 109 million people are eligible to vote.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, regarded in the West as the most authoritative election monitor, canceled plans to send observers.

Putin claimed the pullout was instigated by the United States to discredit the elections. But the OSCE said Russia delayed granting visas for so long that the organization would have been unable to meaningfully assess election preparations.

[prinzowhales]

The smears against Putin coming from supporters of the Anglo-American Pedophilic oligarchy and its like-minded hirelings in the White House and Congress are ridiculous. Litveninko was an associate of Boris Berezovsky, the fugitive from justice and terrorist financier currently holed up in London who is actively engaged in trying to overthrow the Russian government.

[Con Mohrat]

Same Old Story:
Putin''s party wins. US doesn''t approve. Call it fraud.
Chavez loses in bid to be president-for-life. US disapproves. Clean and fair election.
Hamas wins. US disapproves. Call them terroristas.
Ahmedinejad wins. US disapproves. Call him names.
Has the world found out yet? Fair elections are where the US puppet wins.

[watcher269-2009]

Wow, Bushit''s administration says that there are voting irregularities and called for an investigation. I remember 2 US elections where the international community called for the UN to look into Bushit''s elections - and the US Refused. Those people in glass houses shouldn''t .......

The last 2 elections in the US were frauds and stolen. Fricken bunch of Hypocrites.

[brianbwb-2009]

Posted by tribe (over and over again)

So what if he is a paedophile? Is that not a problem for the Russians, especially the families of any victims, to work out themselves? What is worse, evidence of child molestation by a politician, or evidence of false flag invasions, mass murder, torture, rape, and kidnapping by one?

You condemn the mote...

[brianbwb-2009]

"Don''''t forget private television and radio stations were either shut down or taken over by the state.
No surprise here. Just sorrow." Posted by sevenveils

No surprise, and absolutely no difference from the US, where the media is threatened, or paid to lay off any criticism of Bush and his war criminals, even in the face of overwhelming evidence of their crimes.

[jjp735i]

"The Bush administration Sunday called on Russia to investigate claims the vote was manipulated".

Putin''s reply: First investigate the extra votes you received that were never explained during your second run and investigate why people were turned away from the polls and others had their votes not count. Then come see me about my investigating our votes.

At least that is what I think Putin might answer.

[kaelinda]

Putin wins, Chavez loses, Saudis play word games, and America is still paying more than $3.25 a gallon for gasoline. Shall we blame shell, exxon, standard oil?

[sevenveils]

Don''t forget private television and radio stations were either shut down or taken over by the state.

No surprise here. Just sorrow.

[samrensho]

When you arrest the opposition and prevent rallies by the opposition supporters you win elections. Putin knows that, Musharaf knows that and GW only wishes he could do that.

[ndjam]

Show respect on here for President Putin. Putin has helped us in our fight against terrorism. Russia loves the U.S and all it stands for. Congratulations to President Vladimir Putin.

[j62kd4b]

Russians state: "Putin says:NO MORE WARS, FROM NOW ON Russia WILL HAVE ARMIES OF TOURISTS -- IT HAS TAKEN RUSSIA 60 YEARS TO MAKE RUSSIA A PLACE PERSONS WANT TO COME"!
Putin also said to GW Bush when he criticized Putin about not "revaluing the ruble" - Putin remarked: "Why don''t you "revalue" that PEARL NECKLACE your wife is wearing and see how many US Citizens can afford it - same, but diffent problem in Russia!
Putin also scoffed: "Am I supposed to give your kind of Democracy, Mr. Bush"? From all indications in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon, Iran - Your Democracy is failing! All you''ve done is increase OBL''s power with the poor persons!
US Citizens visiting Russia these last several years have a "different view" than our newspapers present....
Russian Ruhr Gas company has rebuilt the Gold Domed (Kremlin) Church Stalin DESTROYED to create a 2 football field size swimming pool for Winter Outdoor use!
Corporations in Russia are BUILDING & REBUILDING PLACES THAT WERE DESTROYED IN 1941-45! Corporations are creating schools & hospitals!The Ruble" has not been revalued allowing man/woman in the street can make reasonable priced purchases!
Moscow University, 40,000 students EARN FREE TUITION - GW''s "No child left behind,ruined many US school systems!
Was GW Bush born on a Tasaday Tribe island, Pacifice Pacific as he HASN''T A "CLUE" re: DIPLOMACY or PEOPLE! God help the U.S. in 2008!

[tbweb]

"Putin''s Party Wins Russia Election"

Wow, I''m shocked, I thought this would be a closer election, I really thought the opposition had a chance. Who was the opposition by the way? LMAO

[mcv57]

What economy, if was not for welfare to keep the pennies circulating, the GREAT GREAT DEPRESSION would have already this country in total calmity.

[Con Mohrat]

ainttaken -- Aren''t we in the same position as the defunct USSR? Broke because 33% of our GDP is spent on weaponry.
The chickens have come home to roost. We are a debtor nation, while Russia, with the largest volume of natural gas in the world, is ready to raise prices to $300 or $400 per 1000 cubic meters to Europe.

[glaswolf]

I am not sure how old most anti Putin bloggers are because they don''t seem to be aware of how brutal governments can be. I was asked by a white academic Che G. supporter to help a jewish trotskyite PhD canidate cope with some academic confusion. The Jewish Trotkyite said his Jewish Stalinist father supported Stalin because Stalin was strong. Most jewish refusniks would condemn Stalin, just a slight dislocation of perception when one jew looks into the gun barrel another jew is staring down during socio-political discussions. If anything, the Russian peoples are in shock about how relatively "NICE" Putin''s internal security structures are ... Kasporov is as bad at political philosophy as he good at playing chess. Putin is not the only member of internal Russian control, he is not a god and depends as any martial folk do on martial folk from 100 nations. Exaggerations only undermine the integrity of American intellectulism from a worldwide perspective. Why would the world want to do business with people who cannot describe accurately the reality before them, as semantics undermines our own survival? The Cheka of 1919 should be reviewed for a reasonable perspective, if you have a strong stomach for human carnage.

[mcv57]

Vladimir Putin has taken election thief lessons the School of G.W. Bushwacker.

[prinzowhales]

FeelFree1--Absolutely right! Bush stole two elections and the Democrats follow along behind him like whipped dogs. I noticed years ago on one May Day in Munich that the Communists and Socialists had a rally in the open without oppression...without being locked into some Orwellian "Free Speech Zone"... Even at ''question time'' in the British Parliament there are real questions and real opposition...none of this nonsense that we have with FEMA, the Clinton campaign, Bush''s ''town hall'' zombie aggregations or fracking University of Florida fascists who cheer deadly force being used against a student who spent more than one minute asking a real question in an orchestrated mind-frack with sailor Kerry.

[feelfree1]

Related:

"Chavez wins Venezuela referendum"

"CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez appeared headed for victory on Sunday in a referendum on allowing him to remain in power as long as he keeps winning elections, two government-linked sources said, citing exit polls."

###

Rough day for the Regime and their remaining handful of dead-enders.

[feelfree1]

Re: "President Vladimir Putin''s party won more than 60 percent of the vote in Russia''s parliamentary election Sunday..."

The Bush regime can''t even get 50% of the vote, even when they cheat, yet some still consider them to be legitimately elected leaders. Go figure.

[mediapreachr]

Some people are more comfortable when others make the important decisions for them-and the latest election in Russia proves that point."Paternalistic gov is more fitted for russians and chinese-it will never geta hold in the Western part of Europe.