Putin wins a poll that was never in doubt, even as Russians quietly protest
Russian President Vladimir Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin basked in an undoubted victory early Monday as partial election results showed him easily securing a fifth term after meeting only token challengers and cracking down on opposition votes.
With little margin for protest, Russians crowded outside polling stations on Sunday afternoon, the final day of the election, apparently heeding a call from the opposition to express their displeasure with Putin. Still, the looming landslide underscored that the Russian leader would accept nothing less than full control of the country’s political system if he extends his nearly quarter-century rule for another six years.
Putin praised the early results as an indication of “confidence” and “hope” in him, while critics saw them as another reflection of the preordained nature of the elections.
‘Of course we have many tasks ahead of us. But I want to make it clear to everyone: when we were consolidated, no one ever managed to scare us, suppress our will and our self-consciousness. They have failed in the past. and they will fail in the future,” Putin said at a meeting with volunteers after polling stations closed.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron wrote on This is not what free and fair elections look like.”
Any public criticism of Putin or his war in Ukraine has been suppressed. Independent media is paralyzed. His fiercest political enemy, Alexei Navalny, died in an Arctic prison last month, and other critics are in jail or in exile.
Apart from the fact that voters had virtually no choice, independent oversight of the elections was extremely limited. According to Russia’s Central Election Commission, Putin had about 87 percent of the vote, while about 90 percent of the constituencies were counted.
In that tightly controlled environment, Navalny’s associates urged those dissatisfied with Putin or the war in Ukraine to go to the polls at noon on Sunday. The lines outside a number of polling stations, both in Russia and at Russian embassies around the world, therefore seemed to be getting bigger. time.
Among those who answered the call was Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny’s widow, who joined a long line in Berlin as some in the crowd applauded and chanted her name.
She stood in line for more than five hours and told reporters after casting her vote that she had written her late husband’s name on the ballot.
When asked if she had a message for Putin, Navalnaya replied: “Please stop asking for messages from me or from anyone for Mr. Putin. There can be no negotiations and nothing with Mr. Putin because he is a murderer , he’s a gangster.”
But Putin dismissed the effectiveness of the apparent protest.
“There were calls to come and vote around noon. And this was supposed to be an expression of opposition. Well, if there were calls to come and vote, then… I commend this,” he said at a news conference after the polls were closed Closed.
Unusually, Putin mentioned Navalny by name at the press conference for the first time in years. And he said he had been told days before his death of an idea to release the opposition leader from prison. Putin said he agreed to the idea on the condition that Navalny did not return to Russia.
Some Russians waiting to vote in Moscow and St. Petersburg told The Associated Press they joined the protest, but it was not possible to confirm whether all people in line did so.
A woman in Moscow, who said her name was Yulia, told the AP she was voting for the first time.
“Even if my vote doesn’t change anything, my conscience will be clear… for the future I want to see for our country,” she said. Like others, she withheld her full name due to security concerns.
Another voter from Moscow, who also identified himself only by his first name, Vadim, said he hoped for change, but added that “this is unfortunately unlikely.”
Some people told the AP they were happy to vote for Putin, which is not surprising in a country where independent media is stymied, state television broadcasts a drumbeat of praise for the Russian leader and expressing a different opinion is risky.
Dmitry Sergienko, who cast his vote in Moscow, said: “I am happy with everything and want everything to remain as it is now.”
Voting took place over three days at polling stations across the vast country, in illegally annexed regions of Ukraine and online. As people voted on Sunday, Russian authorities said Ukraine launched a massive new wave of attacks on Russia, killing two people, underscoring the challenges facing the Kremlin.
Despite strict controls, several dozen cases of vandalism at polling stations were reported during the voting period.
Several people were arrested, including in Moscow and St. Petersburg, after trying to set fires or detonate explosives at polling stations, while others were arrested for throwing green antiseptic or ink into ballot boxes.
Stanislav Andreychuk, co-chairman of the Golos independent election watchdog, said pressure on voters by law enforcement has reached unprecedented levels.
“It’s the first time in my life I’ve seen such absurdities,” Andreychuk wrote on the messaging app Telegram, adding that he started monitoring Russia’s elections 20 years ago.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
First print: March 18, 2024 | 6:35 am IST