Protests After Putin's Election Win - Sky News

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6:23am UK, Monday March 05, 2012

Opponents of Vladimir Putin are planning to stage mass protests in Moscow today after his disputed victory in the country's presidential election.

They have accused his United Russia party of widespread fraud and claim many people were allowed to vote twice.

Speaking at a rally attended by tens of thousands of supporters outside the Kremlin in Moscow, an apparently tearful Mr Putin insisted it had been an "open and honest" contest.

The violations our rivals and the opponents of our president will now speak of are laughable.

Vladimir Putin's campaign chief Stanislav Govorukhin

The 59-year-old former KGB spy picked up almost 64% of the vote - enough to avoid a run-off against the second-placed candidate.

Mr Putin, who was president between 2000 and 2008, is now set for a new six-year term as leader. He has been serving as prime minister for the past four years.

:: Read the latest Sky News coverage of the Russian elections

His nearest rival in the election, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, took just over 17% of the vote.

Mr Zyuganov said his party would not recognise the official results of the election, calling it "illegitimate, dishonest and untransparent".

He added that with public anger increasing Mr Putin "would not be able to rule like he used to".

Mr Putin casts his vote in the presidential election - his third

Billionaire tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov got just under 8% of the vote and nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky a little over 6%. Ex-parliamentary speaker Sergei Mironov came fifth with just under 4%.

The central election commission said the turnout was 64%, almost 6% down on the 2008 presidential vote but higher than for the parliamentary elections in December.

Mr Putin's opponents said voting in many parts of the country was manipulated to help him regain the presidency, replacing his close ally Dmitry Medvedev.

They vowed to step up their protests, the biggest in Russia since he first gained power 12 years ago.

At least 30,000 people are expected to attend a "Russia Without Putin" demonstration in Moscow tonight, which will follow a pro-Putin rally.

The protest has been sanctioned by the authorities but police - who have brought in 6,300 extra officers from across Russia - have warned they will break up any unauthorised gatherings.

There were reports of widespread voting violations during the election, including allegations people were being bussed around to cast their ballots several times.

An anti-Putin protest in Moscow during the election campaign

The claims of so-called "carousel voting" were being received by independent monitoring group Golos, according to spokeswoman Lilia Shibanova.

Golos said it had registered at least 3,000 reports of violations nationwide - but an interior ministry spokesman insisted there had been no major violations.

The alleged fraud came despite the presence of thousands of independent observers and web cameras at polling stations.

Mr Putin's campaign chief Stanislav Govorukhin said: "This is the cleanest election in Russia's entire history.

"The violations our rivals and the opponents of our president will now speak of are laughable."

The election was held against a backdrop of popular discontent, sparked by allegations of widespread fraud during December's parliamentary elections in favour of the United Russia party.

Mr Putin has remained the dominant force in Russian politics since being forced to step aside as president because was barred from a third straight term by the constitution.

But many voters have grown tired of his macho antics - such as horse riding bare-chested - and his popularity has waned amid falling living standards despite Russia's huge natural resources.

He will begin his third term as president in May.