Russian elections lacked ‘level playfield’ say international observers
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
05.12.2011 15:00
International observers have declared that parliamentary elections were “slanted” towards Vladimir Putin's United Russia party, which won with a reduced majority, Sunday.
Supporters celebrate Putin, Medvedev party win; photo - EPA
A statement released on Monday by the monitoring wing of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) claimed that there was “a lack of a level playing field during the electoral process.”
The OSCE specifically cited “the lack of independence of the election administration, the partiality of most media, and the undue interference of state authorities at different levels.”
Monday's statement also highlighted that “although seven parties ran, the prior denial of registration to certain political parties narrowed the political competition.”
Nevertheless, in spite of these factors, the OSCE claimed that “voters took advantage of their right to express their choice.”
That choice has seen United Russia fall from a 64 percent share of the vote in 2007 to 49.5 percent today, as evidenced after over 95 percent of the votes were counted on Monday morning.
A decisive comeback for Russia's communist party has also occurred, with the far-left grouping taking 20 percent of the vote.
A Fair Russia (SR), a party of Social Democrats, gained 13 percent of the vote, while the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) won just under 12 percent. (nh/pg)