russians vote as putin seeks return to presidency
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Russians vote as Putin seeks return to presidency

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Russians vote as Putin seeks return to presidency

Vladimir Putin
Moscow - Arab today

Russians voted on Sunday in presidential polls likely to return strongman Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin for a record third term amid a wave of protests unseen for decades.

Voters in the world`s largest country, spread across nine time zones, will cast their ballots in a marathon election stretched over 21 hours in which victory for 59-year-old ex-KGB spy Putin appears inevitable.

"I know Putin for practical actions, not words," pensioner Zinaida Bykova told AFP in the Pacific port of Vladivostok after voting for the man who has dominated Russian politics for more than a decade.

"Every vote is important when you live in a democratic country," anothervoter, student Anna Antipenko, told AFP.

Despite the recent demonstrations, state pollsters have forecasted a first-round win for Putin with 60 percent of the vote, leaving his Communist rival Gennady Zyuganov trailing in second place with 15 percent.

The tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov and the flamboyant populist Vladimir Zhirinovsky are expected to battle for third place while the former upper house speaker Sergei Mironov is tipped to finish last, but there are no candidates representing the fledgling protest movement.

Turnout in the far eastern region of Chukotka, where voting started at 2000 GMT, stood at 48 percent four hours afer the polls opened.

Reports of a high early-morning turnout in the region could indicate a potentially similar pattern nationwide, said the head of Russia`s central election commission, Vladimir Churov.

"If there is such a turnout in Chukotka at 8am, then we can expect the most interesting turnout figures," Churov said, news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Putin`s expected landslide victory may be tainted by levels of political uncertainty unknown during the current prime minister`s first two terms as president between 2000 and 2008.

Street protests that erupted in response to alleged fraud during December`s parliamentary ballot have swelled into a broader opposition movement whose use of online networks echoes the Arab Spring revolts.

The authorities have installed web cameras in 90,000 polling stations for the first time in an attempt to demonstrate transparency and combat allegations of cheating.

Independent election monitors who are publicising alleged violations via the Internet during the polls have suggested that the authorities have been keen to minimise accusations of fraud during pre-election campaigning because of the protests sparked by the parliamentary polls.

The only difference during the presidential campaign was that "the methods of pressure on voters are more carefully organised, with a greater fear of publicity and public scandals", observer group Golos (Voice or Vote) said in a pre-poll statement.

Putin`s four challengers have already admitted they only have the possibility of finishing second and possibly joining a runoff should he fail to gain the 50 percent of the vote required for outright victory.

But metals magnate Prokhorov appeared optimistic, posing for photographs with voters as he cast his ballot in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.

"I`m choosing a new Russia. Everything is just beginning," he said, according to RIA Novosti.

The authorities cite opinion polls suggesting that only a minority of Russians back the anti-Putin cause.

But the country faces post-election protests on Monday, and police in Moscow have drafted in an extra 6,300 officers to ensure that demonstrators do not spill over into Red Square.

"We are going to respond to provocations with the full force allowed by law," warned Moscow police chief Vladimir Kolokoltsev.

The election campaign saw a strong undercurrent of anti-Western sentiment which threatened to damage the "reset" in relations proposed by US President Barack Obama in 2009.

The victor will win a six-year term in office, replacing Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev.

Voting is due to end in the western exclave of Kaliningrad at 1700 GMT.

Source: ANTARA

 

 

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

russians vote as putin seeks return to presidency russians vote as putin seeks return to presidency

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

russians vote as putin seeks return to presidency russians vote as putin seeks return to presidency

 



GMT 09:16 2017 Wednesday ,13 December

Cape wearing tips

GMT 20:49 2017 Monday ,21 August

South Asia floods claim more than 750 lives

GMT 19:06 2016 Saturday ,10 December

IOF Close Al-Nabi Saleh Village's Entrance

GMT 18:01 2017 Wednesday ,22 February

Abu Sayyaf ‘likely’ behind Vietnam freighter attack

GMT 06:41 2017 Sunday ,03 December

Hamas threatens 'intifada' over US moves on Jerusalem

GMT 16:17 2017 Saturday ,21 January

BMW 7 series crosses 5,000 unit mark in 2016

GMT 12:17 2016 Wednesday ,24 February

United Technologies nixes Honeywell merger

GMT 23:37 2017 Monday ,31 July

Saudi Arabia sanctions Hezbollah member

GMT 05:45 2018 Saturday ,29 September

Abdullah bin Zayed hosts official reception in New York

GMT 04:12 2018 Friday ,12 January

Saudi-led coalition says Yemen rebels threat

GMT 11:18 2014 Monday ,22 December

Richard Ward adds to The Chelsea Collection

GMT 21:20 2017 Monday ,06 February

UN resumes food air drops in Deir Ezzor

GMT 22:24 2017 Friday ,15 December

HRH Premier thanked by Cambodian counterpart

GMT 02:11 2017 Monday ,23 October

Oct24/Nov22

GMT 21:31 2017 Monday ,11 December

HM King congratulates Burkinabe President

GMT 20:22 2017 Monday ,23 October

EU deplores attack against police
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday