Putin fatigue may mar poll

– Russians were voting yesterday in an election set to hand President Vladimir Putin a fourth Kremlin term, but slammed by the opposition as a sham, as tensions with Britain escalated over the poisoning of a former Russian double agent.

With the vast country stretching across 11 time zones, polls opened in the Russian far east on Saturday and was to close in Kaliningrad, the country’s exclave on the EU border, late yesterday.

Putin’s main challenger, Alexei Navalny, has been barred from taking part in the poll for legal reasons and the result of the election is in little doubt, with overall turnout likely to provide the only element of surprise.

A total of 107 million Russians are eligible to cast their votes in the election in the world’s biggest country, but some analysts say that after 18 years of leadership – both as president and prime minister – Putin fatigue may be spreading, with many Russians expected to skip the polls.

The Kremlin needs a high turnout to give greater legitimacy to a new mandate for Putin, who is already Russia’s longest-serving leader since Joseph Stalin.

A few hours after polls opened, turnout stood at 16.55%, compared with 6.53% at the same hour during the 2012 vote, said Central Electoral Commission head Ella Pamfilova. Many of those who cast their ballots voted for Putin, praising him for lifting the country out of the post-Soviet quagmire.

“Of course I’m for Putin, he’s a leader,” said Olga Matyunina, a 65-year-old retired economist. “After he brought Crimea back, he became a hero to me.”

At many polling stations, the atmosphere was festive. – AFP