Russia’s Putin praises elections as hundreds protest results
Al Jazeera
As hundreds gather in Moscow to protest against parliamentary election results, President Putin says they were ‘held openly and in strict accordance with the law’.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised last week’s parliamentary elections as “free and fair”, while more than 1,000 people gathered in Moscow to protest against the results of the polls that were overshadowed by mass accusations of fraud.
“The elections themselves were held openly and in strict accordance with the law,” Putin said on Saturday during talks with top politicians from all parties represented in the new State Duma. He pointed to the fact that a new, fifth force is now represented in the parliament with the New People party as evidence of a democratic election process.
The final election results were released on Friday and handed the ruling United Russia party that backs Putin 324 of the State Duma’s 450 seats.
