Russia election: Pro-Putin party retains power amid alleged widespread violations

Following elections that excluded most Opposition candidates and were marred by many claims of breaches, Russia's ruling party maintained its supermajority in the parliament, further strengthening President Vladimir Putin's hold on power. According to the Central Election Commission, the ruling United Russia party received 49.8 per cent of the vote for the 225 seats allotted to political parties. Another 225 members of parliament are elected directly by voters, with United Russia candidates leading in 198 of them, reported The Associated Press (AP).

Election Commission's chief Ella Pamfilova confirmed that the Putin-led United Russia party retained the constitutional majority in the parliament, also known as Duma. Despite maintaining a comfortable majority, the party did lose some support base as it had garnered 54 per cent of the vote in 2016. Meanwhile, the Communist Party received 19 per cent of the vote, a significant increase from the 13 per cent it received in the 2016 election. 

Meanwhile, the Communist Party claimed that the election included several instances of electoral irregularities and fraud, including ballot stuffing and obstruction of impartial vote observation. On Monday evening, the party also staged a protest against the election results, which drew several hundred individuals. Regardless of the charges of fraud, the Kremlin sweep was widely predicted, given that only a few Opposition candidates were permitted to run this year after Russian authorities launched a sweeping crackdown on Kremlin critics. 

Opposition leaders banned from contesting elections

Organisations linked to jailed Opposition leader Alexei Navalny have been designated as radical, and anyone associated with them is prohibited from running for public office under a new law. Notably, Navalny is serving a 2.5-year sentence for breaching parole for an earlier conviction that he alleges was politically motivated, reported the news agency. The report further stated that a number of notable Opposition politicians were either prosecuted or forced to flee the country due to government pressure.

According to some Kremlin critics, there were reports of numerous violations too during the 2011 parliamentary election, when claims of widespread fraud sparked months of anti-government and anti-Putin riots in the country. Pamfilova, on the other hand, said that there were fewer breaches this year than in previous years, claiming that 25,830 ballots were rejected across 35 zones, reported the news agency.

(With inputs from AP) 

(Image: AP)