Est. 1min 04-12-2007 (updated: 28-05-2012 ) putin1.jpg Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>> Languages: Français | DeutschPrint Email Facebook X LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Citing widespread fraud and intimidation of opposition parties, the Council of Europe, the German government, the OECD and a number of others have chimed in to condemn the conduct of Russia’s recent parliamentary elections. Most observers predict that a resounding victory and a clear parliamentary majority for the United Russia party will allow outgoing Russian President Vladimir Putin to maintain a grip on power behind the scenes while another president, who is likely to be loyal to Putin, takes office. There is also speculation that Putin, who according to Russian law is not permitted to serve three consecutive terms, will be re-elected as president following the next presidential cycle. In the meantime, he may serve as speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council. While it is not yet clear who will become the next Russian leader following presidential elections in 2008, Putin in September appointed as prime minister the largely unknown yet pro-Putin Viktor Zubkov, head of Russia’s anti-money laundering watchdog. United Russia is expected to officially announce its presidential candidate at a 17 December party convention. Read more with Euractiv Putin strengthened by party win in Russian elections Despite accusations of electoral fraud by opposition parties, Russian President Vladimir Putin scored a personal victory over the weekend (1-2 December) as more than 63% of voters backed his United Russia party in parliamentary elections. Subscribe now to our newsletter EU Elections Decoded Email Address * Politics Newsletters PositionsA joint parliamentary observation mission from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe concluded that the elections were "not fair" and "failed to meet" many of the organisations' standards for democratic elections. The Portuguese EU Presidency expressed its "concern" about the detention of opposition marchers during the election over the weekend. While the UK foreign ministry and the French government urged Russia to examine allegations of electoral fraud, the German government said that "measured by our standards, it was neither a free, fair nor democratic election", and concluded that "Russia was not a democracy and is still not a democracy". But Russian President Vladimir Putin denied the charges and called the outcome a signal "that Russians will never allow their country to develop along the destructive path seen in some other countries of the former Soviet Union," he said. Johannes Laitenberger, spokesperson for the Commission, said the EU is "aware of the allegations of irregularities" and said that the Commission will issue a comment on the elections after an analysis of all relevant reports. A number of criticisms came from the European Parliament. Dutch Christian Democrat (EPP-ED) MEP Ria Oomen-Ruijten said that "if Russia wants to show it has an open and transparent democracy, it must investigate all reports of unfair elections. We must take the observations of the mission of parliamentarians from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA) very seriously". MEP Graham Watson, leader of the Liberal Democrats (ALDE), denounced the outcome of the elections, called Putin "a populist with the trappings of a dictator", and questioned whether "Russia still fulfils membership requirements" for the Council of Europe. "The election results show the failure of the West to understand Russia and its people", he said. Polish Liberal MEP Janusz Onyszkiewicz predicts that the outcome of the elections "will give total control of all political institutions to the hands of one person whose programme of building even stronger state may lead to an autocratic dictatorship". The Greens/EFA group said the election was a "sham" with "no democratic credibility", and called on the EU to take "a more responsible approach in its relations with the regime" by including "clauses on issues like minimum democratic standards" in energy contracts with Russia. BackgroundDuring elections over the weekend of 1-2 December, outgoing Russian President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party received 64.1% of the vote, crushing a number of opposition parties. Only three of the ten other candidate parties obtained sufficient votes to surpass the 7% threshold necessary to be represented in the State Duma (parliament). The election already drew criticism over the weekend over allegations of vote rigging (EURACTIV 03/12/07). Timeline 17 Dec.: United Russia to announce presidential candidate for 2008 elections. Further ReadingEuropean Union Portuguese EU Presidency:EU Presidency Statement on incidents and detentions in Russia over the weekend(3 December) Commission:EU-Russia relations Parliament EPP-ED group press release:Russia must investigate reports of unfair elections. Ria Oomen-Ruijten MEP(3 December) ALDE group press release:Putin's popularity threatens deeper democracy in Russia(3 December) International Organisations Council of Europe:Russian Duma elections ‘not held on a level playing field’, say parliamentary observers(3 December) Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE):Website Think tanks & Academia EU-Russia CentreThe Russian Parliamentary Elections(14 November) EU-Russia CentreOverview of Russian political system Press articles Wall Street Journal:Russia's Vote Criticized by West(4 December) Financial Times:Putin brushes off criticism over elections(3 December) Business Week:Russia Election Raises New Questions(3 December) China daily:Putin may serve as upper house speaker after retirement(14 November) Washington Post:U.S. Hopes for Democracy in Russia Fade(5 October)
