Resounding win for Putin
Initial results show him winning presidential election with 62% of votes counted
Initial results show him winning presidential election with 62% of votes counted.
MOSCOW: Vladimir Putin won a resounding victory in Russia’s presidential election, exit polls showed, securing a new six-year term in the Kremlin and a mandate to deal with opposition protests after a vote that opponents said was marred by fraud.
Putin tallied 58% of the vote, according to a nationwide exit poll conducted by the VTSIOM polling agency. Another exit poll done by the FOM polling agency showed Putin received 59% of the ballot.
Official vote results from the far eastern regions where the count was already completed seemed to confirm the poll data. With just over 14% of all precincts counted, Putin was leading the field with 62% of the vote, the Central Election Commission said.
The Communist Party candidate, Gennady Zyuganov, got support of some 18% and the others – nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Sergei Mironov of the socialist Just Russia party and billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov – were in single digits.
Putin’s opponents said voting in many parts of the vast country was skewed to help him return to the presidency after four years as prime minister and vowed to step up the biggest protests.
The main challenge for Putin, credited by many Russians credit with rebuilding the country’s image and overseeing an economic boom, was to win outright in the first round.
“I think the elections will be legitimate, fair, and Putin will win in the first round, unless the court rules otherwise,” Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, was shown saying on Internet and cable television channel TV Dozhd before voting ended.
Putin was likely to portray the victory as strong backing against the opposition protesters, although he has promised not to crack down on them.
He was also expected to return to the Kremlin with tough fighting talk against the West, a trademark of his first presidency and election campaign.
Some voters said Putin, 59, who has portrayed himself as a man of action and guardian of stability, was the tough national leader the world’s biggest country and energy producer needed.
“I voted for Putin because he was a good president and our children were looked after and that’s all. That’s how I feel,” said Maria Fedotova, a 92- year- old grandmother wrapped up in fur coat and hat, flanked by relatives.