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Vladimir Putin wants Russia's citizens to vote patriotically
Photo: Alexei Druzhinin / imago images / ITAR-TASS
The opponents who are to be taken seriously are excluded from the election, in some cases imprisoned, and a low turnout is expected. Nonetheless, one day before the start of the parliamentary elections, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on citizens to vote. "I am counting on your civic sense of responsibility, balance and patriotism, on your striving to elect members who will work for the good and in the name of our beloved Russia," said the head of state in a video published by the Kremlin on Thursday night .
After prominent opponents were excluded from the election, a victory for the ruling party "United Russia" is expected in the election that begins on Friday. In order to increase voter turnout, posters are hanging everywhere in the metropolis of Moscow, which, among other things, should make it easier for people to vote online from the sofa. Those who take part in the election will receive a ticket for a lottery, in which a car or an apartment will be the main prizes.
Some opponents of the Kremlin party, including the prominent opposition politician Alexei Navalny and his supporters, were excluded from the election.
Navalny himself is behind bars, his organizations have been classified as "extremist" and thus banned.
Navalny's team is promoting a "smart" vote for those candidates who have the best chance of surviving against politicians loyal to the Kremlin.
Many Navalny supporters therefore run for the Communist Party.
Neither opposition nor independent observers admitted
Shortly before the parliamentary elections in Russia, the Kremlin opponent Mikhail Khodorkovsky warned against falsifying the results.
Neither the opposition nor independent observers are allowed to make the September 17-19 vote a real choice, said Khodorkovsky, who lives in exile in Great Britain.
It will not be clear how the population really feels about the power apparatus, "because the results of the vote are falsified," the politician and former oil manager told the Echo Moskvy radio station on Monday.
The Kremlin chief "spit" on the Duma election;
He doesn't care who wins because parliament no longer has any powers.
"Putin did not allow a single person to take part in these elections who criticized him," said Khodorkovsky.
Putin himself is currently in voluntary quarantine.
Several corona cases have become known in Putin's environment.
svs / afp
