Russia presidential vote skewed for Putin - monitorsMarch 5, 2012 - 15:17 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia's presidential election was unfair and clearly skewed in favor of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, international vote monitors said on Monday, March 5, according to Reuters. Election observers said Putin, who official results show won about 64 percent of the vote, was given a clear advantage over his rivals in the media and that state resources were used at a regional level to support his bid for a third presidential term. "There was no real competition, and abuse of government resources ensured that the ultimate winner of the election was never in doubt," Tonino Picula, one of the vote monitors from the Organization for Security and CoOperation in Europe, said in a report. "The point of elections is that the outcome should be uncertain. This was not the case in Russia," he said. "According to our assessment, these elections were unfair," he told reporters. The observers, from a joint team from the OSCE and the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, also called for alleged electoral violations in Sunday's election to be thoroughly investigated. Monitors said they assessed voting on election day positively but that they viewed the vote count as negative at almost a third of polling stations observed. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Putin congratulates Pashinyan’s birthday Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his birthday on June 1. Opposition motorcade en route to Gyumri for large rally A motorcade of protesters headed by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan is heading to the city of Gyumri. Ruling MPs, Foreign Minister talk Armenia-Azerbaijan processes MOs from the ruling Civil Contract party met with the Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in the Armenian parliament. Russia: Armenia’s frozen membership weakens CSTO position in Caucasus A Russian envoy said any step that could alienate the CSTO member states from each other is “deeply wrong”. |