Putin wins Russian presidential election

TEHRAN,March 5(MNA)-- Vladimir Putin won a resounding victory in Russia's presidential election on Sunday, preliminary results showed, securing a new six-year term in the Kremlin. According to the results, Putin got 61.97 percent of votes in the presidential election, with his closest rival Gennady Zyuganov getting 17.77 percent of the vote, Russia Today reported. Vladimir Zhirinovsky was running third with around 8 percent of votes cast in his favor. Mikhail Prokhorov and Sergey Mironov were running fourth and fifth with 7.57 and 3.69 percent of the votes respectively. Meanwhile, two television exit polls, released after voting ended at 1700 GMT, forecast Putin would win 59.3 and 58.3 percent of the votes, enough to make a runoff against the second-placed candidate unnecessary, Reuters reported. His nearest rival, communist Gennady Zyuganov, fell short of 20 percent in both polls. The main challenge for Putin, credited by many Russians credit with rebuilding the country's image and overseeing an economic boom, was to win outright in the first round. "I think the elections will be legitimate, fair, and Putin will win in the first round, unless the court rules otherwise," Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, was shown saying on Internet and cable television channel TV Dozhd before voting ended. Putin was likely to portray the victory as strong backing against the opposition protesters, although he has promised not to crack down on them. He is also expected to return to the Kremlin with tough fighting talk against the West, a trademark of his first presidency and election campaign. Some voters expressed anger at being offered no real choice in a vote pitting Putin against four others - communist Zyuganov, nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, ex-parliamentary speaker Sergei Mironov and billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov. Others said Putin, 59, who has portrayed himself as a man of action and guardian of stability, was the tough national leader the world's biggest country and energy producer needed. "I voted for Putin because he was a good president and our children were looked after and that's all. That's how I feel," said Maria Fedotova, a 92-year-old grandmother wrapped up in fur coat and hat, flanked by relatives. Putin has remained Russia's dominant leader and its most popular politician since stepping aside in 2008 to make way for his ally, Dmitry Medvedev, because he was barred from a third straight term by the constitution. Vote monitors from the opposition and bloggers posted allegations of election rigging across the country of 143 million. Golos, an independent monitoring group, said it had registered at least 2,283 reports of violations nationwide. An Interior Ministry spokesman denied there had been any major violations. Election officials also dismissed reports of widespread fraud in a parliamentary election on December 4 which triggered the opposition protests. Thousands of opposition activists as well as an international observer mission were also monitoring the polls. The opposition protests were sparked by the disputed December 4 election, but anger was focused at Putin, who bungled the September 24 announcement of his presidential bid by appearing simply to inform Russians that he would rule for another six years.