Washington(DPA) : The Bush administration Monday withheld its approval of Russian parliamentary elections won by President Vladimir Putin’s party and called on Russian authorities to investigate charges that the vote was rigged.
“Reports from Russia include that there were allegations of election-day violations and we’ve urged the Russians to look into those,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters.
Asked whether US President George W. Bush’s administration shares Putin’s view that the vote was legitimate, she said, “We’ll reserve judgement.”
Putin’s United Russia party won a two-thirds majority in the lower house of parliament in Sunday’s election, giving his supporters enough votes to push through constitutional changes.
United Russia cast the vote as a referendum on Putin’s rule. Putin said a big win would give him a mandate to retain influence after his presidency ends in March.