VZCZCXRO3318
PP RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #5704/01 3381643
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 041643Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5676
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 005704 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PREL PHUM RS
SUBJECT: PUTIN SAYS ELECTION GIVES DUMA MORE LEGITIMACY, 
OTHERS COMMENT ON FOREIGN OBSERVERS 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (U) One day after United Russia's decisive victory in 
parliamentary elections, Putin thanked voters for supporting 
United Russia and said that the elections would give the next 
Duma more legitimacy.  He called the election results a sign 
of "trust" in United Russia and a "good indicator of Russia's 
internal stability."  Meantime, the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs posted a statement on its website that highlighted 
the positive assessments by some international observers, and 
called assessments by parliamentarians of the OSCE, the 
Council of Europe, and the Nordic Council, who also observed 
Sunday's elections, "haphazard."  Duma International Affairs 
Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachev and CEC Chairman 
Churov also commented on foreign observers, praising the 
Commonwealth of Independent States observation team and 
dismissing the joint statement of the OSCE and Council of 
Europe parliamentary groups.  Churov said international 
observers will be invited to observe the March presidential 
elections, with GOR invitations specifying the number of 
observers expected.  End summary. 
 
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PUTIN THANKS VOTERS; SAYS DUMA WILL BE MORE LEGITIMATE 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶2. (U) At an appearance at an aerospace plant on the 
outskirts of Moscow December 3, Putin thanked voters for 
supporting United Russia, whose ticket he led, in the State 
Duma elections.  Calling the 64 percent of the vote United 
Russia received a sign of "trust," he said the vote is a 
"reflection of voters' expectations" and that he hoped 
"United Russia would not fail us."  He added that the vote is 
a "good indicator of Russia's internal stability."  Putin 
said the election results increased the legitimacy of the 
Duma because 91 percent of votes cast were for parties that 
will be represented in the fifth Duma.  In the 2003 
elections, he noted, parties represented in the preceding 
Duma which finished its work on November 17, had received 
only 70 percent of total votes cast.  (The rest had gone to 
parties that had not crossed the five percent threshold.) 
Putin flagged the increased representation of each of the 
four parties to cross the Duma threshold as a sign that 
Russia's strategy to strengthen political parties has 
succeeded. 
 
¶3. (U) In comments made during his December 3 morning meeting 
with government ministers, Putin said the new Duma should 
hold its first session before the end of December.  Its first 
task will be to elect its speaker. He also argued for 
separating the timing of the Duma and presidential elections, 
saying people are tired of political campaigns and it would 
be better to ease into the presidential race, which 
officially began November 30.  Putin suggested the new Duma 
take up this issue.  Under current law, the presidential 
campaign takes place directly following the State Duma 
elections. 
 
---------------------------- 
FOREIGN MINISTRY HAS ITS SAY 
---------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) In a statement posted on the website of the Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the positive assessments by 
observers from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) 
and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) were 
highlighted and the assessments made by parliamentary 
observers of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) and 
Council of Europe (PACE) were treated skeptically.  The MFA 
took issue with the fact that OSCE PA and PACE held a press 
conference to announce their assessment of the elections 
before they were able to consult with all of their observers 
and that their assessment was made only to the media, not to 
the CEC or political parties.  The MFA statement called some 
of the OSCE PA and PACE assessments "haphazard."  The 
statement went on to say that the "State Duma elections 
showed that Russian leadership's present policy is supported 
by the majority of the Russian population."  The statement 
questioned the motivations of those observers who found fault 
with Russian law, which established a seven percent threshold 
for parties to enter the Duma, and criticized Russian 
officials for "merging state and political parties."  The MFA 
statement noted the threshold is not outside electoral norms 
and in many western countries, "a government is formed by the 
majority political party." 
 
¶5. (U)  Duma International Affairs Committee Chairman 
Kosachev called international criticism of the elections "an 
 
MOSCOW 00005704  002 OF 002 
 
 
instrument of political pressure on Russia."  In a commentary 
in Rossiiskaya Gazeta he said the major result of the 
elections was that they "confirmed absolute majority support 
of the course taken over the last several years."  Kosachev 
contended that there were no "facts" of violations during the 
elections. "As there are no facts, this wave will end soon," 
he wrote. 
 
------------------------------------ 
CEC CHUROV STAGES POST-ELECTION SHOW 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (U) At a December 4 press conference, Central Election 
Commission Chairman Churov provided the following unofficial 
results with 99.8 percent of votes counted from the December 
2 Duma elections: 
 
United Russia -- 44,500,000 (64.24%) 315 seats 
Communist Party (KPRF) -- 8,000,000 (11.81%) 57 seats 
Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) -- 5,643,000 (8.15%) 40 seats 
Just Russia -- 5,367,000 (7.75%) 38 seats 
 
He noted that United Russia, KPRF and LDPR each will have 
more seats than they had in the previous Duma.  He said that 
official results will be announced as early as December 7. 
Churov attributed the results in Chechnya, where turnout was 
more than 99 percent, to a "heroic" electoral commission. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Churov mocked the joint statement on December 3 by 
OSCE PA and PACE observers and touted aspects of the 
elections that observers from fellow CIS countries plan to 
emulate, such as having polling stations at airports and 
train stations. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Churov decried the fact that no one "signed" the 
OSCE PA and PACE statement (NOTE: OSCE PA and PACE officials 
said their observers, along with Nordic Council observers, 
unanimously agreed with the statement released to the press 
December 3.)  He took issue with the OSCE PA's and PACE's 
contention that the election took place in an "atmosphere 
which seriously limited political competition," guffawing 
over the use of the word "atmosphere."  "What is meant by 
atmosphere?" Churov asked.  "Do they mean the air in Moscow 
and St. Petersburg?"  In response to a claim made by 
opposition candidate Boris Nemtsov that in one instance a 
thousand absentee ballots were stuffed into a ballot box, 
Churov enlisted the help of one of his aides to demonstrate 
the near impossibility of stuffing one thousand ballots into 
a ballot box with a narrow slit on top.  When this obviously 
strong aide was unable to do so, Churov then asked him to 
insert the ballots one at a time, presumably to show the 
length of time it would take to insert a thousand ballots. 
While Churov railed against the OSCE/PACE/Nordic Council 
observer missions, the aide meticulously folded groups of 
ballots and slipped them into the ballot box.  The task took 
about 15 minutes. 
 
¶9. (U) Churov said the presidential elections will be run 
"even better."  He said they would increase turnout by 
providing more information to voters and ensuring that more 
disabled persons can vote.  International observers would be 
invited, he said, and added that the CEC will do things like 
they did for the Duma elections and invitations will include 
"the number of observers we'll expect." 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶10.  (SBU) The GOR has launched a full court press in 
response to international criticism of the Duma elections. 
By picking and choosing from post-election assessments, the 
GOR is touting the positive comments (technical improvements) 
while hitting back against the negative (the elections were 
not fair and did not meet international norms).   Its latest 
talking point -- that the Duma will be more "legitimate" -- 
is part of an effort to show that whatever problems there may 
have been on December 2, the elections resulted in a stronger 
institution.  Churov's comments confirm expectations that the 
GOR will set numerical limits on international observers to 
the March presidential campaign. 
BURNS