Medvedev Wins Russian Election, Observers Cite Flaws (Update8)

By Sebastian Alison and Ellen Pinchuk

March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Dmitry Medvedev won Russia's presidential election in a landslide, giving him a mandate to succeed Vladimir Putin. European monitors cast doubt on the fairness of the vote.

A 22-member observer mission from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe concluded that the ``flaws'' it noted during the December parliamentary election had been repeated.

``Candidate registration concerns could not have been accommodated, putting into question the degree of how fair the election was,'' PACE said today in a statement on its Web site. ``Equal access of the candidates to the media and the public sphere in general has not improved, putting into question the fairness of the election.''

Medvedev had 70.2 percent of the vote with 99.7 percent of ballots counted at 3 p.m. in Moscow, according to the Central Election Commission. Turnout was 69.7 percent.

His success was assured after Putin named him as his chosen successor on Dec. 10. Putin then enjoyed approval ratings of more than 80 percent. A week later, Putin agreed to serve as Medvedev's prime minister, keeping a pledge to retain influence and setting the stage for a dual leadership that's unprecedented in modern Russian history.

Division of Power

Mikhail Kasyanov, Putin's former prime minister who tried unsuccessfully to run in the election, sees Medvedev gradually gaining in authority. In an interview with Bloomberg Television today, when asked who will hold the upper hand in the relationship, he said: ``Putin in the beginning. But in six months we should reconsider this issue.''

Igor Yurgens, first vice president of Renaissance Capital, said Medvedev will take power ``piece by piece'' as he establishes himself in the Kremlin. He described Medvedev as ``smart, sharp, intelligent, and he knows the consequences of his steps.''

``He will learn fast, faster than Putin,'' Yurgens said.

International reaction to Medvedev's victory was muted. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said through his spokesman Michael Ellam that he ``is looking forward to improve the relationship'' between the U.K. and Russia and to ``improve areas of cooperation.''

International Response

The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush ``looks forward to working with'' Medvedev, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in an e-mailed statement.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel struck a more discordant note, saying through deputy government spokesman Thomas Steg that ``during the election campaign, there were incidents and situations which caused us to determine that democratic and constitutional principles weren't permanently complied with.''

The Medvedev era started this morning when OAO Gazprom reduced deliveries of natural gas to Ukraine by 25 percent. Medvedev is chairman of Russia's state-run gas monopoly.

A rock music fan, Medvedev, 42, made a surprise appearance with Putin at a concert outside Moscow's Kremlin after polls closed late yesterday, thanking hundreds of cheering supporters for their votes and pledging to continue Putin's policies.

``Together we will go further, together we will triumph,'' Medvedev, wearing jeans and a black leather jacket, told the screaming crowd in remarks broadcast on state television.

`Friendly' Partnership

The president-elect made clear he expects to wield paramount power when working with Putin. ``The president has his powers, and the prime minister has his,'' Medvedev told reporters early today. ``Nobody has any intention of changing that,'' he said, adding that he'll be firmly in charge of foreign policy.

The dual leadership will work because ``we trust each other,'' Medvedev said, predicting a ``friendly'' partnership with Putin.

Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov came second in the election with 17.8 percent of the vote, followed by the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia's Vladimir Zhirinovsky with 9.4 percent and Andrei Bogdanov with 1.3 percent.

Putin won 71.3 percent of the vote when reelected in 2004.

Golos, a Russian nongovernmental organization that monitors elections, said the vote was marred by frequent violations of election law. Its members were not allowed into polling stations in Astrakhan, St. Petersburg and many other cities, spokeswoman Marina Dashenkova said by telephone. ``Violations are extremely widespread,'' she said.

`Total Vote-Rigging'

Zyuganov, whose party had nearly 500,000 members monitoring the vote, said in comments posted on his Web site today that he was ``extremely concerned'' about ``total vote-rigging'' in at least five of Russia's regions. Communist monitors said they detected violations across the country.

Opposition coalition The Other Russia, led by former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, held a rally in St. Petersburg today to protest the election result.

``Today is the first day of the struggle against the illegitimate regime,'' Kasparov told about 400 supporters in downtown St. Petersburg. About the same number of police officers were deployed to maintain order.

In Moscow, Nikita Belykh, head of the opposition Union of Right Forces party, and human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov were briefly detained by police at an unsanctioned demonstration.

`Stability' and `Continuity'

As the clear front-runner in the election campaign, Medvedev barely bothered to campaign. He traveled widely across Russia, visiting factories, old people's homes, naval bases and other institutions on trips his office said were related to his government duties, not the campaign. National television regularly featured his activities in prime time news programs. Medvedev also refused to take part in televised debates.

The other candidates received minimal press coverage.

``The regime didn't really win this election; it forced through the result it needed by means of administration pressure and avoiding televised debates,'' Zyuganov said.

Medvedev has said ``stability'' and ``continuity'' will be the priorities of his presidency, as he seeks to build on the unbroken years of economic growth under Putin.

He has made it clear that he will challenge the West to defend Russia's interests. Under Medvedev, Russia will probably continue opposing U.S. plans to deploy elements of a missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland; bids by former Soviet republics Ukraine and Georgia to join NATO; and Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia, which the U.S. and some European countries support.

To contact the reporters on this story: Sebastian Alison in Moscow at Salison1@bloomberg.net ; Ellen Pinchuk in Moscow at epinchuk@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 3, 2008 11:28 EST

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