OSCE: Russian elections marred by restrictions on basic rights
The OSCE has stated that the Russian Duma elections were marred by restrictions on basic rights and democratic commitments, Reuters reported.
Putin’s political allies won a landslide victory during Sunday’s elections, and while monitors did notice some improvements over previous elections, tampering and fraud are still believed to have padded the vote numbers for United Russia, the Communist Party, the nationalist LDPR, and A Just Russia, all pro-Putin political parties.
According to Finnish MP and the OSCE’s special coordinator for the elections, Ilkka Kanerva, "legal restrictions on basic rights continue to be a problem. If Russia is to live up to its democratic commitments, greater space is needed for debate and civic engagement. Democratic commitments continue to be challenged as the electoral environment was negatively affected by restrictions to fundamental freedoms and political rights, firmly controlled media and a tightening grip on civil society."
Kanerva also noted that there were few "distinct political alternatives" to the pro-Kremlin parties.
With 93% of the votes counted, Putin’s own United Russia party has won 54.2% of the vote, securing 343 seats in the 450-member State Duma.
The Communist Party and LDPR secured just over 13% of the vote, and A Just Russia won 6%.
The two main opposition parties, Yabloko and PARNAS, received just 1.89% and 0.7% respectively, far short of the 5% needed to secure party list registration.
Voter turnout was a record low of 47.8%.