Moscow (AsiaNews) - As anticipated and in line with all of the predictions, Dmitry Medvedev is the new Russian president.  He succeeds Vladimir Putin, who next May 7 will officially conclude his second mandate.  The electoral commission has released the definitive results of the elections yesterday, March 2.  With 99.4% of the ballots counted, Medvedev has obtained 70.23% of the votes.  His closest competitor, the communist Gennady Zyuganov, received 17.76% of the vote, and the nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovskij obtained 9.37%,  while just 1.29% went to the almost unknown pro-European Andrej Bogdanov.  In his first statements after the vote, Medvedev guaranteed continuity: "I think that my presidency will be a direct continuation" of that of Putin.  For his part, the former head of state is not leaving the stage, but as already expected will occupy the post of prime minister at the Kremlin.

The pressure on voters "without alternatives"

The fear of the Kremlin that there could be widespread abstention from voting, to a great enough extent to delegitimise the "dauphin" of tsar Vladimir, was swept away by the high attendance at the polls: 69.65%.  This was greater than the turnout for the elections for the Duma last December, and for the last presidential election in 2004.  The voting numbers from March 2 are tainted by the suspicion of heavy pressure from employers and provincial governors, who are directly appointed by the Russian president.  In the most remote zones of the federation, participation at the polls topped 80%, in comparison with 50.32% in Moscow and 51% in Saint Petersburg.  Abstention was presented by the critics of the Putin government as the only possibility for dissent in elections that were hardly democratic.  During the electoral campaign, not only the political opposition, but also ordinary citizens denounced pressure on various levels.  An inhabitant of Moscow recounts: "My kids came today from school and asked me if I will vote for Mr. Medvedev on Sunday presidential elections in Russia. A week before my wife came from school frustrated - she was warned by teachers that if she will not come to vote by certain time - they will visit our apartment to ask why. My mobile provider sent me today a SMS letter, demanding my participation in the elections: 'Your voice is very important for your country!'" "Voters had their backs to the wall", maintains political analyst Serhiy Kudelia, "there was no real choice, no 'candidate for change', and no one to represent their democratic hopes".

Domestic and international criticisms

Almost as if on cue, domestic criticisms have begun.  "They have deceived the country again", says the communist Zyuganov, who participated in a third electoral campaign for the presidency. Zhirinovskij, generally respectful toward the government in power, has announced appeals against what he calls "massive fraud".  "We do not have the elections, but a procedure for appointing an already designated president". There were few international observers, since the OSCE refused to monitor the elections because of the absence of minimal standards.  There were only 235 observers for 109 million voters.  The only Western mission present in the country was that of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which sent 20 members.  Its head, Andreas Gross, judges the results of the Russian elections as "the reflection of the will of the voters", but emphasises that "democratic potential was not fully realised". 

The Orthodox Church

Also predictable and from the script was the praise from the Orthodox Church.  Already before the voting, the patriarchate of Moscow had expressed, through one of its leading representatives, its complete support for the candidate selected by Putin.  On February 29, Vsevolod Chaplin, deputy chief of the department for foreign relations, had invited the faithful to "vote according to [their] conscience", while still recalling that the Church supported Medvedev. Patriarch Alexius II himself has expressed appreciation for the "investiture" by Putin. Yesterday, after voting, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church emphasised the importance of the political process initiated by the outgoing president.  "We hope that the elections will be successful: in this way we will be able to welcome the new head of state, who will assume the great responsibility for the future of our country", the patriarch concluded.