Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears?

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Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears?

Putin returns to Kremlin as president of one of the most important and influent countries in the world, the Russian Federation, after winning by a large margin a third term in office in the first round of presidential elections held on Sunday. Putin won, according to partial polls, by 65 percent, the next candidate, the Communist Gennady Zyuganov, scoring no more than 17 percent, while a third candidate scored some 8 percent.

The opposition accused immense fraud at the ballot, and promised to stage a rally in Moscow, which is expected to be attended by at least 10,000 people and by opposition leaders. Putin was caught on camera on Sunday with tears in his eyes, though, as the famous Soviet-time movie says, “Moscow does not believe in tears.” Later on, he is said to have explained that it was wind that brought tears to his eyes.

Putin is expected to stay in office at least seven years, and at most 14 before the constitutional right expires again, and must sit one out. According to the modifications in the Russian constitution, the presidential term has been expanded from four to seven years.

The new president may run for a second term, at the end of which he must sit one term out, after which he can resume the quest for another term. It is exactly what Putin did in 2008, when he became prime minister of Russia after two terms in office, from 2000 to 2008.

On Sunday, Putin declared that the victory on Sunday came at the end of an “honest and open fight,” and called for the unity of the country, at a time when many challenges must be faced.

He added that by the scores in this poll, the Russians have shown the world that they were ready for renewal, and that they had one goal only.

It is expected that the large margin by which he won elections allow Putin to overcome possible accusations of fraud. Analysts in Moscow say that in December, the voter fraud accusations and the subsequent protests strengthened the support for him, as his core supporters, the state workers, the blue-collar workers and all the people whose salary is being paid by the state were galvanized by the numbers of those protesting against Putin.

Irregularities were reported during the vote, the former chess world champion Garry Kasparov reporting as an observer of the elections that the supporters of the president elect simply added new voters in the polling station by using supplementary voter rolls.

Russian radio station Golos reported that the “carousel voting” method was also used, consisting in busloads of voters who cast ballots in different polling stations multiple times. The practice was confirmed by charismatic blogger Alexei Navalny, who became popular for his stance against the regime in the wake of the December elections. Navalny said that observers trained by his organization saw this practice being used “extensively.”

Putin’s campaign chief said that the accusations were “ridiculous.” During the protests in December, the then prime minister’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that it was a question of arithmetic that while there were some 70,000 in the streets of Moscow protesting against Putin, there were also many millions in the huge country, who did not live in Moscow and appreciated Putin. Peskov’s words are referential for the attitude toward legitimacy in this great country.

There are opposition supporters who say that if irregularities hadn’t been that many, Putin would have qualified as first to runoffs. Given the huge distance to the second place, it is expectable that he would have won the runoffs too.

Golos issued its own survey based on its data, and said that Putin scored 55 percent, while Zyuganov scored 19 percent, which does not change the situation.

Communist Gennady Zyuganov said he would not recognize the validity of the polls, which he called “illegitimate, unfair and untransparent.”

Russia used a sophisticated surveillance system placed in the polling stations to the end of averting accusations of lack of transparency.

In Dagestan, three policemen were killed in an attack on a polling station after polling station was closed. One of the attackers was killed.

It is expected that the accusations of fraud, which come from all over the country, may undermine to some point the legitimacy of the victory Putin celebrated on Sunday, but it is not likely that they would change the situation.

Accusations were formulated against Putin’s campaign even before the elections, as the opposition demanded that he resign his office as prime minister, so that he may not influence the campaign from that position.

Putin projected an image of powerful man capable to stand up to the expansion of the international power, such as the European Union or the United States. This is exactly how many of his voters have perceived him.

It was during this campaign that Russia opposed a UN Security Council that was condemning Syria for the massacre in Homs and the other restive cities, and also it was during this campaign that prime minister Putin spoke out against the anti-missile shield in Eastern Europe and promised that the defense budget would be substantially supplemented.

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