23 September 2003 20:59
Europe Putin fails to bring out voters
One of Russia's most important regional elections - a key test of President Vladimir Putin's popularity and approach to democracy - was mired by voter indifference yesterday. Some 70% of the electorate stayed at home, and a 10th of those who voted spoiled their ballot papers. Sunday's gubernatorial elections in St Petersburg were expected to overwhelmingly approve the Kremlin's candidate for the post, Valentina Matvienko. Yet only 29% of St Petersburgers voted, 48.7% of these for Ms Matvienko, just shy of the 50% she needed to give her victory in the first vote. She will now face a run-off against her main opponent, Anna Markova, who garnered just 16% of the vote. The poll campaign was laden with controversy after Mr Putin appeared on television with Ms Matvienko, his special representative to the St Petersburg region, endorsing her campaign. He wished her luck and said she had done a good job so far. The appearance seemed to violate Russian electoral law, which forbids an official to use his post to promote political parties or election candidates. Posters across the city also depicted Ms Matvienko alongside the president, with the slogan "Together we can do anything". The campaigning was also marred last week by allegations of police interference with leaflet distributions by rival candidates, and Ms Matvienko's unfair dominance of the media. "Residents felt the election was being conducted without them, that there was no point in voting because everything was decided," the city council chairman, Vadim Tyulpanov, said. Nick Paton Walsh, Moscow. guardian.co.uk/russia
[UKIR [UK & Ireland Intelligence Wire]] |
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