Putin to take office tomorrow

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, APRIL 5. Russia's President-elect, Mr. Vladimir Putin, will be formally sworn in on May 7, it was announced in Moscow today after the Central Election Commission (CEC) approved official election results despite allegations of vote rigging.

The Commission confirmed that Mr. Putin won outright in the March 26 presidential elections with 52.94 per cent of the votes, as against 29.21 per cent for the Communist party leader, Mr. Gennady Zyuganov, who came in second, and 5.8 per cent for the liberal Yabloko leader, Mr. Grigory Yavlinsky. Mr. Putin won the support of 40 million Russians.

The CEC refused to heed a Communist Party call to postpone approval of the election results until charges of vote falsification were investigated.

Mr. Zyuganov filed an appeal with the CEC and the Prosecutor General's Office on Monday, asking them to review the vote results. Mr. Zyuganov said Communist activists had rechecked the vote count and found that Mr. Putin had allegedly been added extra votes to enable him to cross the 50-per cent threshold required to win the elections in the very first round.

``There were gross violations, and in nine regions the results were completely falsified,'' Mr. Zyuganov said at a news conference on Tuesday.

Another presidential contender, Mr. Yavlinsky, also said vote counts in a few regions may have been tampered with, but there weren't enough likely violations to invalidate Mr. Putin's victory.

The CEC agreed to look into the fraud charges, but nevertheless approved the final vote tally.

Even before he formally takes office, Mr. Putin will host an informal meeting with Japan's new Prime Minister, Mr. Yoshiro Mori. The meeting will take place on April 28-30 at a venue other than Moscow, according to Japanese sources. They said the meeting would focus on preparations for the G-8 Summit on July 21-23 in Japan and bilateral ties.

Mr. Putin cannot make any foreign trips until after his inauguration.

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Section  : International
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