RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – October 12, 2009
With almost 90% of the votes counted in Moscow, the city’s election Committee has reported that the United Russia party has garnered 66.10% of the vote, with the Communist Party coming in second at 13.28%, sufficient for three seats in the 35-member chamber. Vladimir Putin’s party is apparently likely to have dominated in other regions. The Guardian reports on allegations of vote-rigging; talk of which has seen leading opposition candidates scorn Medvedev’s promise to uphold democratic procedures. ‘These elections are illegitimate‘, argues Boris Nemtsov. Say it with flowers; Communist deputy Oleg Smolin delivered a funeral bouquet to Prefect Oleg Mitvol, representing the death of ‘political freedom and decency‘ in the Northern prefecture. A Just Russia handed out comics in which the party’s Sergei Mironov was seen warding off villainy in the shape of political opponents.