Russian election cloaked in deceit

MOSCOW: Russians have started voting in a three-day parliamentary election in which vocal Kremlin critics have been barred from running, following a historic crackdown on all opposition.

Parliamentary and local polls in the world’s largest country, spread over 11 time zones, started on Friday.

“Let’s go!” said Ella Pamfilova, the head of the Central Election Commission, in a live broadcast. “We are so excited!”

The run-up to the parliamentary polls has been marred by an unprecedented crackdown on Kremlin critics and independent media, with President Vladimir Putin’s top foe, Alexei Navalny, jailed in January and his organisation outlawed.

With many voters frustrated by falling in- comes and not planning to cast their ballots, Mr Putin (pictured) urged Russians to elect a “strong” parliament.

“I’m counting on your responsible, balanced and patriotic civic position,” the President said in a video address. The 68-year-old Russian leader is isolating after the Kremlin announced this week an outbreak of “dozens” of coronavirus cases among his inner circle.

In a message from prison, Mr Navalny called on Russians to cast aside apathy and vote pro-Kremlin candidates out.

“Are you not interested in trying?” he said in a message posted on Instagram, adding that even in prison he remained optimistic and urged Russians to do the same.

“I really do not think that I cannot change anything,” said the 45-year-old, who barely survived a poisoning attack with a Novichok nerve agent he has blamed on the Kremlin and Mr Putin.

The opposition politician’s allies have been barred from running, and his team has promoted Mr Navalny’s tactical voting project – urging supporters to back candidates best positioned to defeat Mr Putin’s United Russia candidates.

A majority of the 225 alternative parliamentary candidates named by Mr Navalny’s allies are running on the Communist Party’s list.

The media regulator has blocked dozens of websites linked to the opposition leader, including the tactical voting website, and has pressured Google and Apple to remove his app from their stores.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has claimed that developers of Mr Navalny’s app have ties to the Pentagon, and last week Moscow summoned US ambassador John Sullivan over the alleged interference of US tech giants in the polls.

Recent surveys by state-run pollster VTsIOM show fewer than 30 per cent of Russians plan to vote for the ruling party, down from 40-45 per cent in the weeks ahead of the last elections in 2016.

But United Russia is expected to retain its two-thirds majority, enough to change the constitution as it did last year with reforms allowing Mr Putin extend his rule to 2036.

The vote is being held online and in person, in a move officials said is aimed at limiting voters’ potential exposure to the coronavirus.

However, the opposition says that organising voting over several days gives officials greater opportunities to fix the election results.