By Timothy Heritage and Alexei Anishchuk, Reuters,
But vote monitors from the
Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe watchdog echoed complaints
by opposition leaders who said the election was not fair and who plan to
protest against the outcome in central Moscow
"The point of elections is
that the outcome should be uncertain. This was not the case in Russia," said Tonino Picula, one of
the vote monitors. "According to our assessment, these elections were
unfair."
The OSCE monitors said Putin was
given a clear advantage over his rivals in the media and that state resources
were used to help him extend his domination of Russia
They called for all allegations
of voting irregularities to be thoroughly investigated.
Although the observers' findings
have no legal bearing, they undermine Russian election officials' statements
that there were no serious violations and confirm the concerns of many voters.
"It's not the people who
choose, it's the authorities who choose themselves. It's all just a game put on
for the people, an advertisement for Putin," said Agil Alekberov, who
works in a Moscow
Putin's opponents, fearing he
will smother political and economic reforms, have refused to recognize the
result, which could allow the former KGB spy to rule Russia
Putin has already served as
president or premier for 12 consecutive years and made way for his ally, Dmitry
Medvedev, in 2008 only because of constitutional limits.
"He (Putin) is forcing
things to breaking point. He is declaring war on us," said journalist
Sergei Parkhomenko, one of the protest organizers.
Monday's protest will take place
within easy reach of the Kremlin and officials say the demonstrators could
cause trouble by attempting to march towards the seat of power.
Some protest leaders have
received official warnings to be on their best behavior from Moscow
OLIVE BRANCH
With Putin and the opposition on
collision course, the Kremlin issued a statement that could be intended to take
the sting out of the protests which began over alleged fraud in a parliamentary
poll on December 4.
Medvedev, who will stay in office
until early May, told the prosecutor general to study the legality of 32
criminal cases including the jailing of former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Khodorkovsky, who headed what was
Russia's biggest oil company, Yukos, and was once the country's richest man,
was arrested in 2003 and jailed on tax evasion and fraud charges after showing
political ambitions and falling out with Putin.
The Kremlin said Medvedev had
also told the justice minister to explain why Russia
The order followed a meeting last
month at which opposition leaders handed Medvedev a list of people they regard
as political prisoners and called for political reforms.
Medvedev's initiatives "have
only one goal: To at least somehow lower the scale of dismay and protest that
continues to surge in society", Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov
was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.
The move could be a stalling
tactic intended to appease the organizers of the biggest protests of Putin's
rule, or it could be a parting gesture by a man intent of making his mark as
the more liberal of the ruling "tandem" with Putin.
PUTIN DIVIDES OPINION
Almost complete election results
on Monday showed Putin, 59, had won almost 64 percent of votes.
Zyuganov was second on just over
17 percent and liberal billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov had almost 8 percent.
Nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky secured just over 6 percent and former
parliamentary speaker Sergei Mironov had less than 4 percent.
"There were practically no
serious violations," Central Election Commission chief Vladimir Churov
told reporters, dismissing the allegations of irregularities across Russia by
the opposition and volunteer vote monitors.
Golos, an independent monitoring
group, said it had registered at least 3,100 reports of violations nationwide.
Many voters, especially in the
provinces, see Putin as a safe pair of hands and credit him with restoring
order after the chaotic 1990s under President Boris Yeltsin and overseeing an
economic boom.
But others have lost all faith in
elections and see Putin as an impediment to Russia
"We've had enough lies. The
whole country has had enough lies," said Rosa Trukachova, a 60-year old
pensioner.
