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The Election Observers Have Arrived
Russian President Vladimir Putin sharply criticized the decision of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights not to send observers to the State Duma elections. He claimed that the agency was following the recommendations of the U.S. State Department. OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Secretary General Spencer Oliver, who arrived with colleagues on Sunday to observe the election, called the Russian president's statements “unethical.”
The observers will meet with the leaders of the political parties participating in the elections, and with members of the Duma, speaker of the Duma Boris Gryzlov, Central Elections Commission chairman Vladimir Churov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Then they will travel to Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg, Yaroslavl, Irkutsk, Rostov-on-Don and Ekaterinburg to observe voting, gathering again in Moscow on December 3 for a press conference.
In the past, invitations to observe Russian elections had been sent out months in advance, because the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights observed not only the actual voting, but campaigning as well. This year, invitations were sent out only at the end of October, causing the Office to decline the invitation. Oliver stated that he did not have difficulties obtaining a Russian visa, contrary to earlier reports.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 27, 2007
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