The Russian Communist party (KPRF) called Sunday’s parliamentary election illegitimate and pledged to challenge its results in courts, the party said on its official website on Saturday.
“KPRF states that the passed State Duma elections were unfair and non-free. We consider them illegitimate from a moral and political point of view,” the statement, signed by the party leader Gennady Zyuganov, said.
The ruling United Russia party won Sunday’s State Duma elections and will have 238 seats in the new State Duma. The result means Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s party has lost 77 seats, but just retains a parliamentary majority. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation will have 92 seats, the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) 56 and A Just Russia 64 seats.
Communist Party said it does not recognize, in particular, the announced results in the republics of Mordovia, Dagestan, Tyva, Chechnya and Ingushetia.
Communists also named Tambov, Saratov, Rostov, Tula Region, Krasnodar, St. Petersburg and Moscow region as places where, in their opinion, the vote had been seriously manipulated. KPRF Legal Service has prepared statements and appeals to the courts and law enforcement agencies against thousands of alleged violations during Sunday’s parliamentary election, the statement said.
“KPRF demands to cancel the vote in the regions, municipalities, precincts, where serious violations of electoral law were committed,” the statement said.
In addition, KPRF demands for the resignation of the Central Election Commission head Vladimir Churov as he was “unable to organize a fair and clean election”.
The Communists also think that the State Duma should create a parliamentary commission to investigate irregularities in the election.
Vote protest rallies take place on Saturday in more than 40 cities across Russia, as well as in some 20 other countries.
The largest protest is expected to take place in Moscow on Saturday afternoon. Some 30,000 people intended to participate in the demonstration, which has been authorized by the authorities.