European monitors say that Russia’s parliamentary election has been tilted in favour of the ruling party and marred by violations, but that the voters still have taken advantage of their choice.
The monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and other European institutions said in Monday’s statement that the vote was marked by a convergence of the state and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party, limited political competition and a lack of fairness.
The European observers said the vote was tainted by frequent procedural violations and instances of apparent manipulations, including serious indications of ballot box stuffing.
“To me, this election was like a game in which only some players are allowed to compete,” mission head Heidi Tagliavini said at a news conference.
Despite the uneven playing field and allegations of violations during the vote, United Russia party saw its parliament majority weaken sharply to just about 50 per cent in Sunday’s vote.
Although seven political parties took part in the race, the OSCE pointed at the prior denial of registration to some opposition parties that had narrowed political competition.
Monitors said the election administration lacked independence, most media were partial and state authorities interfered unduly at different levels.
This “did not provide the conditions for fair electoral competition,” said Petros Efthymiou, coordinator of the short-term observation mission. “Changes are needed for the will of the people to be respected.”
