Gorbachev criticizes Russia over disputed Moscow poll

Oct 19, 2009, 10:38 GMT

Moscow - Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev has criticized a recent disputed municipal election in Moscow as a 'mockery' and a 'discredit' to Russian political institutions, according to a report published Monday.

'It is a complete failure of the technocrats, operating under the motto: 'It's not who votes that counts, it's who counts the votes,' the Nobel laureate told the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, quoting former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

The governing United Russia party won a firmer hold on power in regional elections on October 11. But those were characterized by complaints of fraud and obstruction of opposition parties. The poll made provision for 30 million registered voters in 75 municipalities.

The election commission later announced that the party of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had won 32 or the 35 seats in Moscow's duma. The Communist party, with 13.3 per cent of the vote, was the only other party to make it into the duma.

Gorbachev described the subsequent walkout by three political parties from state duma in protest against the alleged election fraud as 'very serious.'

When people who are cautious and close to power decide on such a step, it means they have finally lost confidence in the political tool of choice, the 78-year-old noted.

It was 'scandals like these' that cause voters to 'drift away from the polls,' Gorbachev warned. 'But what is democracy worth if people do not participate?' he said.

The Fair Russia party, the Nationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) and Communist party, which are not usually critical of the Kremlin, called for crisis talks to end the dispute.