Russia’s Central Electoral Commission on Thursday dismissed the OSCE criticism of the March 4 presidential election won by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as unfair.
OSCE and PACE observers said not all presidential hopefuls had equal access to the media while Prime Minister Putin had an obvious advantage, using government resources both on the federal and regional level.
“This conclusion… is not consistent with the facts,” the CEC said, adding that it could be regarded as an “encroachment on media freedom in the Russian Federation.”
Each media outlet in Russia has “a legal right to pursue an independent editorial policy” based on principles of “objectivity, faithfulness and the equality of candidates’ rights,” the CEC said.
OSCE and PACE observers said the “conditions for the campaign were clearly skewed in favor of one candidate,” Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, with “overly restricted candidate registration requirements” limiting genuine competition.
