Interfax: Kremlin top official calls for fair, legitimate elections in Russia
(Interfax – November 13, 2013) The first deputy head of the Russian presidential administration, Vyacheslav Volodin, has called for fair and legitimate elections in Russian provinces and warned regional administrations against creating “artificial competition,” the privately-owned Interfax news agency reported on 13 November. Volodin was speaking at a session with regional deputy governors.
“In the realm of politics, anything that is created to serve as a decoration, or a smokescreen, fades away sooner or later,” Volodin said, quoted by Interfax.
“It is very important for us that elections are competitive and open, that they are legitimate,” Volodin said, stressing that this attitude was a long-term commitment for the authorities with the ultimate goal of forming a better authority system through competition. “We should win openly, competitively and transparently. We should ensure that no subjects are restricted for discussion as we campaign,” Volodin urged regional officials.
Volodin also told governments “not to chase after percentage points”. A governor could garner 80 to 90- per cent of votes, he said, but the figure would hardly reflect actual sentiment in society. “If people do not recognize that figure, it means that the situation is much worse than if your governor had won by just one vote. Please take note of this,” Volodin said.
Volodin cited Vladimir Putin’s approval rating, which he pegged at approximately 60 per cent referring to a poll by the Public Opinion Foundation, as an example of an objective figure, another Interfax report said earlier on the same day. “Putin’s approval rating is objective: people write anything they want about him on social networks, liberal media outlets report whatever they deem necessary about Putin, in any way they deem necessary,” Volodin said.
According to Volodin, 62 per cent of Russians currently approve of Putin’s work as president.
“He [Putin] constantly works in the conditions of open competition. He explains, he meets people, he convinces them,” Volodin said.