Putin's party leads in Russia regional vote
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
MOSCOW, Mar 2 (AFP): Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia party was leading in Russia's string of regional and municipal elections held Sunday, electoral commission officials said early Monday as the opposition cried foul.
United Russia headed the polls in all nine regions where regional parliamentary elections were held, officials cited by the RIA Novosti news agency said.
The ballot count was complete in only four cities, where United Russia candidates were voted in as mayors, officials added.
The party which wins the regional elections may present its candidate for the post of the region's governor, which is appointed by the president.
The full results of the over 3,000 elections held Sunday were to be known Monday, the central electoral commission said, adding that no serious violations were registered.
However, the opposition Communist party slammed the elections as a "return to shady technologies of the 1990s."
Other opposition parties, Just Russia and LDPR, voiced their intention to join the Communists in registering their protests with the prosecutor general's office as well as local prosecutors.
United Russia headed the polls in all nine regions where regional parliamentary elections were held, officials cited by the RIA Novosti news agency said.
The ballot count was complete in only four cities, where United Russia candidates were voted in as mayors, officials added.
The party which wins the regional elections may present its candidate for the post of the region's governor, which is appointed by the president.
The full results of the over 3,000 elections held Sunday were to be known Monday, the central electoral commission said, adding that no serious violations were registered.
However, the opposition Communist party slammed the elections as a "return to shady technologies of the 1990s."
Other opposition parties, Just Russia and LDPR, voiced their intention to join the Communists in registering their protests with the prosecutor general's office as well as local prosecutors.