Russia goes to the polls without main oppn

Moscow, September 17

After a few weeks of desultory campaigning but months of relentless official moves to shut down significant opposition, Russia began three days of voting early on Friday in a parliamentary election that is unlikely to change the country's political complexion.

Navalny app removed from online stores

Moscow: An app created by allies of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny disappeared from Apple and Google stores on Friday as polls opened across Russia for three days of voting in a parliamentary election. AP

There's no expectation that United Russia, the party devoted to President Vladimir Putin, will lose its dominance of the State Duma, the elected lower house of parliament. The main questions to be answered are whether the party will retain its current two-thirds majority that allows it to amend the constitution; whether anemic turnout will dull the party's prestige; and whether imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny's Smart Voting initiative proves to be a viable strategy against it. "There is very little intrigue in these elections … and in fact they will not leave a special trace in political history," Andrei Kolesnikov, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said. Putin, however, urged Russians to vote, saying in a video message Thursday that "election of new composition is undoubtedly the most important event in the life of our society and country." — Reuters

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