Putin's popularity threatens deeper democracy in Russia

6.02.00pm GMT Sun 2nd Dec 2007

Preliminary results indicate that President Putin and his United Russia have obtained 63 % of the votes. With such a majority, Putin will claim a mandate to remain the leader of the country, no matter who will be elected as president in March.

European Liberal Democrat Leader Graham Watson said:

"The election results show the failure of the West to understand Russia and its people. In Russia, like Belarus, when times are tough people often opt for what they think is security. President Putin has successfully tapped into popular demand for security, stability and restoration of national pride. International opprobium which he wears as a badge of honour has further boosted his credibility. However he is a populist with the trappings of a dictator. The heavy press intimidation he has imposed goes hand in hand with the imprisonment of opposition leaders and party financiers such as Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Perhaps it's time for the Council of Europe to examine whether Russia still fulfils membership requirements".

Janusz Onyszkiewicz MEP (Poland, PD), rapporteur on EU-Russia PCA, commented:

"The officially presented results of the most recent elections to the Russian Duma confirmed all predictions. The unscrupulous use of the governmental and presidential resources in support of just one political party, the supervision (often by police force) of the democratic opposition deprived practically of financial means as well as access to the electronic media turned the elections into a referendum "pro or against" the incumbent President Vladimir Putin.

The outcome of the elections may result on one side in a complete elimination of democratic opposition from the political life, which would make them financially insolvent and organisationally even weaker, on the other side it will give a total control of all political institutions into hands of one person whose program of building even stronger state may lead to an autocrat dictatorship".

Also worth noting is the fact that Andrei Lugovoi suspected of having killed Alexander Litvinenko, has won a parliamentary seat which gives him immunity.