British Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron has denounced the election in Russia which saw President Vladimir Putin tighten his grip on power following the stifling of any real opposition.
Following early results on Sunday that showed the Russian president had received close to 88% of the vote, the foreign secretary declared, “This is not what free and fair elections look like.”
Putin would set a record with the outcome, which was reported by Russia’s Central Election Commission. It would give him another six-year term to continue his nearly 25-year rule.
There were just three rivals to Putin, and none of them had criticized his invasion of Ukraine or his style of governance.
Before the polls even opened, all credible competitors were eliminated.
Alexei Navalny, the arch enemy, passed away in an Arctic prison last month, and other critics are either imprisoned or living abroad.
In the meantime, there was very little independent oversight of the election, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) was not invited to witness the three-day voting.
Cameron tweeted: “The polls have closed in Russia, following the illegal holding of elections on Ukrainian territory, a lack of choice for voters and no independent OSCE monitoring.”
“This is not what free and fair elections look like.”
Earlier on Sunday, before the exit poll, Cabinet minister Mark Harper also said Russia’s elections were neither free nor fair.
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He told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “I don’t think people have any illusion about whether they’re free or fair, and it’s particularly reprehensible that they’re trying to conduct those elections in parts of Ukraine, which is the sovereign state which Vladimir Putin has invaded.”
Asked whether the UK would recognise Putin’s regime, the Transport Secretary said: “We of course have diplomatic relations with Russia, but we make our position to them very clear about their invasion of Ukraine.”
Lord Robertson, a former secretary-general of NATO, said the West should not be intimidated by Putin.
“I think that Putin is likely to double down again, he’ll claim this as a boost for himself and an endorsement for the military action he has taken,” he told the BBC’s The Westminster Hour.
He said while western nations get “spooked” by Putin’s threat of using nuclear weapons, “we should not be intimidated by nuclear blackmail” because “he knows that we have got means of retaliating.”
Russian expatriates in the UK spoiled presidential election ballots on Sunday as a form of protest against Putin.
A Noon Against Putin protest was held in front of the Russian embassy in London by the Russian Democratic Society, which is defined as a community of Russian immigrants living in the UK.
It happened as supporters of Navalny called on Russians to demonstrate by congregating close to polling places on Sunday at midday.
NAN, DPA, and PA Media
