Russian elections ‘clearly skewed’ in favour of Putin

As an emotional Mr Putin described his election victory as a turning point that had prevented the country from falling into the hands of Russia’s enemies, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said the poll had been “clearly skewed” in his favour.

His opponents have refused to recognise the results amid allegations of widespread fraud and ballot rigging, and there have been anti-Putin protests in Moscow, St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg.

Fifty arrests were made at a 3,000-strong rally in Petersburg. In the capital, a similar number of people were detained, with some manhandled by police, but a ptrotest attended by thousands of other demonstrators was allowed to go ahead. Pro-Putin rallies have also been taking place.

Mr Putin, a former KGB spy, will serve six years as president after winning nearly 65 per cent of votes.

“I promised you we would win. We have won. Glory to Russia,” he told tens of thousands of flag-waving supporters at a late evening victory rally.

Flanked by outgoing President, Dmitry Medvedev, he denounced attempts to “destroy Russia’s statehood and usurp power”.

The Russian authorities should be in no doubt that the world will be watching their actions closely in the coming hours and days. Douglas Alexander, Shadow foreign secretary

But Tonino Picula, one of the vote monitors, said: “The point of elections is that the outcome should be uncertain. This was not the case in Russia. According to our assessment, these elections were unfair.”

Shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander said: “Given the allegations that have already emerged of undemocratic practices, there are real questions to be answered about the election results in Russia. The Russian authorities should be in no doubt that the world will be watching their actions closely in the coming hours and days.”

‘Illegitimate’

Communist Party leader, Gennady Zyuganov, came second in the contest with 17 per cent of votes. He said his party would not recognise the result and called the election “illegitimate, dishonest and untransparent”.

Opposition leaders predicted the movement against Mr Putin would now swell.

“The social base of the protest is going to grow and Putin with his team did everything wrong to make this happen,” said journalist Sergei Parkhomenko, one of the leaders of the opposition protest movement. “He is forcing things to breaking point. He is declaring war on us. As a result the base of aversion to him is growing.”

In an apparent attempt to stem the flow of opposition, President Dmitry Medvedev held out an olive branch to opposition protesters, telling Russia’s prosecutor general to study the legality of 32 criminal cases including the jailing of former oil tycoon, Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

However the move was only welcomed cautiously by the tycoon’s lawyer, Vadim Klyuvgant, who said the true significance could only be judged after the outcome of the investigation was known.