Polls put Putin ahead amid claims of rigging

CAMPAIGNING for Russia’s parliamentary election ended yesterday with President Vladimir Putin’s party on course for a landslide victory and opposition groups voicing fears of widespread ballot-rigging.

Mr Putin is leading the United Russia party into tomorrow’s vote and will use the majority it is expected to win, thus cementing his grip on power even after he steps down from the presidency at the end of his second term next year.

Most Russian voters credit Mr Putin with restoring stability and economic growth after the chaos of the 1990s. Opinion polls indicate his party will pick up about 60% of tomorrow’s vote.

One of Mr Putin’s most vocal critics, former chess champion Garry Kasparov, said the vote would be illegitimate because the Kremlin would rig the result. Officials deny such claims.

Mr Kasparov, who served five days in prison this week for organising an illegal demonstration, urged voters to spoil their ballot papers.

“We must show people these elections are illegal and illegitimate,” he said. He is not running in the election.

Opinion polls show the Communists are the only party other than United Russia assured of exceeding the 7% threshold to qualify for seats in parliament.

Kremlin opponents and non-governmental groups say they have registered many violations of election rules. They have reported dozens of cases of people being told by their employers to turn up for work tomorrow where managers will check if they voted, and also of people being registered to vote in more than one polling station.

Western governments are concerned Europe’s main vote monitoring watchdog, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights — widely regarded as the yardstick for elections in ex-Soviet states — will not be at the vote. The group pulled out, citing obstruction from Moscow.

A senior member of the United Russia party said it was not up to foreign observers to determine if the election was fair.

Lyubov Sliska, deputy speaker of the State Duma lower house of parliament, said: “It is not foreign election observers who guarantee democracy in Russia but... the will and political culture of the people.”