Russian election 'free and equal', insists Medvedev

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said the nation’s political parties enjoyed “free and equal competition” ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary election, while voters complain of record violations of election law by the main pro-Kremlin party.

Mr Medvedev today hailed the upcoming election as “a high point of democracy”.

Golos, a respected independent watchdog, has documented more than 4,500 election law violations mostly related to the dominant United Russia party.

Only Kremlin-approved parties are allowed to field candidates, and past elections have drawn strong accusations of vote-rigging.

Independent pollster Levada Centre said last week that United Russia will receive 53% of the vote, down from 64% in 2007.