Brussels – The elections for the Russian Parliament (Duma), which begin today (18 September), “do not meet international democratic standards” and their result “cannot be regarded as a genuine expression of the will of the Russian people.” This is the position expressed by the Platform for dialogue with the Russian Democratic Forces of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), according to which the election of the 450 members of parliament will result in an assembly that cannot be recognised as democratically elected nor as a legitimate representative of the Russian people.
At the heart of the criticism is, first and foremost, the conduct of the vote in the Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied by Russia. According to PACE, organising the vote in these areas constitutes “a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Ukraine and of international law, rendering the vote devoid of legitimacy or legal effect. The vote therefore also extends to Crimea, which was annexed in 2014, and to the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, which were militarily occupied and annexed in 2022.
PACE also condemns the domestic political context in which the elections are taking place. “Opposition figures, civil society representatives, and journalists have been imprisoned, persecuted, or forced into exile”, while several independent media outlets “have been shut down or blocked.” Even peaceful criticism of the Russian war against Ukraine has been criminalised.
The assembly also criticised the use of labels such as “foreign agent”, “extremist”, “terrorist”, and “undesirable organisation”, which are regarded as legal tools used to target individuals and organisations critical of the authorities. According to PACE, alongside judicial proceedings deemed to be politically motivated, “these measures have reduced the space for political debate and for genuine electoral competition.”
A further cause for concern is the exclusion of the Yabloko party, the country’s oldest liberal and pro-Western party. According to the statement, its exclusion would have deprived Russian voters of “an opportunity, albeit a limited one, to express their dissent regarding the war in Ukraine-” The party was known for attracting the attention of voters dissatisfied with the war. It was therefore excluded after just five days of campaigning on flimsy grounds, linked to an alleged copyright infringement.
Finally, Russia did not invite the OSCE or independent representatives of civil society to observe the elections, thereby preventing an “independent and impartial international assessment” of the electoral process. Furthermore, doubts remain regarding the transparency of electronic voting, which is managed via technological infrastructure under state control.
According to PACE, an election held under these conditions is “incompatible with the international commitments undertaken by Russia,” which require genuine political competition, freedom to campaign, access to a range of political views and the ability to vote without fear of reprisals. It’s the same old story; history continues to repeat itself unabated. The recent Russian presidential elections, held in March 2024, took place in an “extremely restrictive context, further exacerbated by Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine,” the then EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, had commented on behalf of the European Union: “The Russian authorities have continued to step up systematic internal repression, cracking down on opposition politicians, civil society organisations, independent media and other critical voices through the use of repressive legislation and politically motivated prison sentences.”
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
