Russian election head admits uneven media coverage
Friday, 29 Feb 2008 10:58
Dmitry Medvedev is expected to be the Kremlin's next chief
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Russia's presidential election campaign has seen "fair but not equal" coverage of the candidates, it has been claimed.
Central election commission head Vladimir Churov admitted media coverage, especially on television, had been biased towards likely winner Dmitry Medvedev.
Current president Vladimir Putin is set to become Mr Medvedev's prime minister when the latter beats his opponents in the poll, as is widely expected.
Mr Churov was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as insisting the election remains an important democratic process.
"The election campaign is not a show, it is a serious choice that determines the Russian development for years to come," he said.
Campaigners entered the final day of electioneering today before Sunday's vote, as political debate and discussion is stifled on Saturday to allow voters to make up their mind.
Yesterday the west's only electoral monitor mission in Russia told the Reuters news agency it was expecting to issue a negative report about the vote.
"Freedom means you can recognise your position in a candidate's position, you can express your political will and this has been avoided, this has been prevented from happening," Andreas Gross of the Council of
Europe said.