As Putin Cruises, Navalny And Sobchak Spar In Election-Day Standoff
Kremlin critics say the Russian election was a show, with President Vladimir Putin's victory the dully predictable final act. On election day, Aleksei Navalny and Ksenia Sobchak provided a far livelier sideshow -- but it may have done little to help the opposition's cause.
Shortly before polls closed in Moscow on March 18, Sobchak showed up at Navalny's headquarters and -- in an exchange broadcast live on the opposition leader's YouTube channel -- proposed that they join forces.
The result was not too pretty. Navalny rejected Sobchak's offer, using stark language to reiterate his accusation that she only helped the Kremlin slap a veneer of democracy on an election he has dismissed for months as "the reappointment of Vladimir Putin."
Navalny, who was barred from the ballot due to a financial-crimes conviction he contends was fabricated by the Kremlin, accused Sobchak of "endlessly lying" and said that everything she does is "repulsive."
- By RFE/RL
RFE/RL correspondent Christopher Miller took the pulse of some voters in Moscow as the country cast ballots to elect the president.
Five Of The Most In-Your-Face Shenanigans Of Russia’s Presidential Election
Here are some of the more flagrant instances of election violations and notable shenanigans recorded around Russia.
1. Mob Attacks Monitors
At polling station number 1,126 in Makhachkala, the capital of Daghestan, observers and journalists flagged several election violations, including repeated ballot-stuffing and a physical attack on election monitors.
The first violation was caught by a security camera shortly after the polling station opened, when a woman who appears to be a station official is seen sneaking out of the room before returning with a handful of ballots which she stuffs into a ballot box. The stack is so thick it gets caught for a moment in the box’s slot.
Not long after, the same security camera shows what was described by witnesses as a mob of young men entering the polling station before violently dragging monitors out of sight of the ballot box. Then, with the monitors and voters distracted, two men go to work stuffing ballots into the abandoned ballot boxes. Video of the incident had been viewed tens of thousands of times by the time of this story’s publication.
Max Seddon, a journalist with the Financial Times who was at the polling station when the attack occurred, later posted a photograph of a monitor who he reported had been injured by the mob.
Golos, the respected independent election monitor, reported that as of late afternoon, Moscow time, it had received at 2,263 reports of alleged violations.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky is not happy.
The the nationalist firebrand who is sometimes called the Kremlin's court jester came in a distant third place in the March 18 vote, with just 6.3 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results from the Central Election Commission.
Asked if he was satisfied with the results, Zhirinovsky, who is the longtime leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, replied: "No. I'm not satisfied."
He then went on to add some choice, unvarnished commentary about the state of Russian elections more broadly:
"The condition were absolutely unfair. There were no debates. The scandals were artificial, provoked only to attract attention. There is no democracy. There is no competition. There is one Kremlin candidate, and all the rest are just 'faces,'" he was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying.
"In reality there should be a lower percentage for Putin. I think a real European percent is no more than 40," he said.
Putin's 2024 Problem: Election Win Raises Curtain On Clouded Future
When a friend told Ilya Barabanov that he would vote for the very first time on March 18 -- and vote to keep President Vladimir Putin in office until 2024 -- the journalist had to ask why.
"At least it's some sort of guarantee that he'll be gone in six years," came the reply.
Don't count on it.
Now that Putin has coasted to victory, the clock starts ticking on what could be his final stint as president, because the Russian Constitution imposes a limit of two consecutive terms.
But few believe that will stop the man who has been president or prime minister since August 1999 from looking for ways to continue to call the shots after 2024.
- By RFE/RL
Putin: No Plans To Change Constitution For Now, Suggests Will Not Run In 2030
President Vladimir Putin has said that he has no plans to change the country's constitution for the time being, and suggested he would not seek the presidency again in 2030.
Putin spoke to reporters late on March 18, as election results indicated that he easily won a new six-year term as president.
An existing limit of two straight presidential terms means that Putin would not be eligible to run again in 2024 without changing the constitution, but could do so in 2030.
The restrictions have sparked speculation that Putin, 65, could push through a change in the constitution in order to stay in the presidency after 2024 or alter the structure of Russia's government in order to retain power in a different position.
- By RFE/RL
Putin Wins Landslide Victory Amid Reports Of Violations, Pressure To Vote
MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has won six more years in office, with official results handing him a landslide victory amid reports of thousands of violations and widespread pressure on citizens to vote.
Central Election Commission results broadcast on state television after the polls closed showed that with more than 65 percent of ballots counted, Putin had 75.7 percent of the votes cast in the March 18 election.
Exit polls from two main pollsters -- including state-owned VTsIOM -- showed Putin winning with more than 73 percent of the vote.According to the election committee, Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin was second with 12.7 percent of the vote, followed by flamboyant ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky with 6.1 percent and journalist and TV personality Ksenia Sobchak with 1.4 percent. The four other candidates -- liberal Grigory Yavlinsky, nationalist Sergei Baburin, Communists of Russia candidate Maksim Suraikin, and centrist Boris Titov -- had less than 1 percent apiece.
Zhenya The Apathetic Clown Wants You To Know There Was ‘No Real Choice’ In Russia’s Election
MOSCOW – He sang and twirled as child-friendly pop music blared from a mobile sound system, but it was clear Zhenya the clown’s heart just wasn’t in it.
“There is no real choice,” said the 20-year-old whose full name is Yevgeny Kiva. He told RFE/RL that he had been paid by the local election committee in Moscow’s working-class Tekstilshchiki neighborhood to wear a clown suit and entertain the children of voters in Sunday’s presidential election, which was certain to go in favor of President Vladimir Putin, securing him a fourth, six-year term.
Kiva conceded, however, that he had cast his vote for the incumbent leader, because “there is no one else who can do it like Putin.”
While election officials at Moscow polling stations visited by RFE/RL said turnout had been steady and higher than the previous presidential election, voter apathy was palpable here and reportedly across this vast country following what was a lackluster campaign season.
Many, including the costumed clown dancing to children’s pop music, couldn’t hide their indifference on election day.
- By RFE/RL
RFE/RL's live blog of the Russian presidential election is closing down for the night.
Check back in first thing Monday morning when we resume coverage.
Cпокойной Ночи и Удачи! Good Night and Good Luck!