The hunger strike in protest against purported election violations in the southern Russian city of Astrakhan is pointless since a probe will be conducted anyway, Russia’s Central Electoral Commission chief said on Wednesday.
A Just Russia party member Oleg Shein, who lost to the ruling United Russia party’s candidate in the May 4 mayoral election, has been on hunger strike since March 16.
“All the procedures that are currently being conducted would have been implemented regardless of the hunger strike, so I regard the hunger strike as such absolutely senseless,” CEC chief Vladimir Churov said.
He also said whatever violations there were could not affect the outcome of the poll.
Churov admitted there were numerous violations but not a single instance of ballot stuffing, as alleged by Shein.
