Putin Wins Six More Years in Kremlin

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Bloomberg:

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin claimed victory in a presidential election that his opponents say was marred by fraud, accusing protesters against his rule of seeking to usurp power.

“We won in an open and honest fight,” Putin said in front of thousands of supporters near the Kremlin last night as tears streamed down his face. “We showed that our people can easily distinguish between a desire for novelty and renewal from political provocations which have only one goal: to destroy Russian statehood and usurp power.”

Putin, 59, who has been at Russia’s helm for 12 years including the last four as premier, won another six years in the Kremlin with about 64 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results with more than 90 percent of all ballots counted. Exit polls estimated his score at about 60 percent. Opposition groups plan a rally in Moscow today.

The Russian leader is seeking to reassert his authority in the face of renewed protests over electoral fraud allegations similar to those that sparked the largest unrest in his decade in power. Outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev, who agreed to step aside in September to make way for Putin’s return, appeared alongside his predecessor at the rally. Putin backed the presidential candidacy of Medvedev, 46, four years ago, when the constitution prevented him from running for a third consecutive term.

‘Frustration and Anger’

“Putin may have won the election but the challenges he’s been facing in the past few months won’t go away,” said Masha Lipman, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center. “There is deep frustration and anger, and protests will continue.”

Putin’s support plummeted last year, culminating in rallies that brought tens of thousands of people to the streets of Moscow and other major cities to protest alleged fraud in the ruling United Russia party’s victory in Dec. 4 elections. The premier vowed to raise spending on social programs and the military as he stepped up campaign promises to reverse the slide in his ratings.

Putin scored 64.5 percent, with 92.2 percent of votes counted, according to the Central Electoral Commission, which estimated turnout at 64 percent. Official results are due later today. Putin got 58.3 percent of the vote, the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion, or VTsIOM, said, citing an exit poll of 159,161 people. Putin got 59.3 percent, according to an exit poll by the Public Opinion Foundation.

Fraud Allegations

Fraud allegations are exceeding reports received during the conduct of the election three months ago, Alexey Navalny, an anti-corruption blogger and opposition leader, told the Ekho Moskvy radio station.

About 5,000 reports of violations had been registered nationwide, the Golos vote monitoring group said by e-mail. Presidential candidates Gennady Zyuganov, the leader of the Communist party who placed second, and billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who was third, questioned the fairness of the balloting.

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The Putin regime continues.

[nickydog]

No surprise.