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St Petersburg system opposition not to protest Monday

Representatives of election headquarters confirm the election was transparent

ST. PETERSBURG, March 5 (Itar-Tass) — The system opposition does not plan to participate in protest demonstrations due in St. Petersburg on Monday and calls for its allies to follow suit, representatives of election headquarters agreed following announcement of preliminary results of the presidential election in the city.

Representatives of election headquarters recognise victory of Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg and confirm the election was transparent.

“Today, legitimacy is clear. The result we are expecting /in the morning/ will be non-disputable and convincing,” a representative of Mikhail Prokhorov’s election headquarters Igor Kucherenko said.

Maxim Yakovlev of Vladmir Zhirinovsky’s election headquarters said the election cased certain fears as far as falsifying and violations are concerned.

“What happened today is surprising to me. Over 15 years, this is most clean and transparent election,” he said. Zhirinovsky’s and Prokhorov’s supporters do not plan to participate in street protests, their headquarters said.

Head of Gennady Zyuganov’s election headquarters in St. Petersburg Vladimir Dmitriyev said “violation were not that impudent as in December.” “This election is transparent. Installation of web cameras – here we are far ahead of European countries, with which we often compare ourselves in democracy,” he said. Dmitriyev could not express position of communists regarding participation in street rallies, saying it would depend on final results of the voting in St. Petersburg, which will be published on Monday morning.

“The preliminary results are rather legitimate,” a representative of Mironov’s election headquarters Oleg Nilov said. “The results will be such that we /headquarters of other candidates/ will have to recognise our defeat.” “Compared to the election past year, the difference is clear. Of course, it does not satisfy the non-formal opposition, which could not participate in it,” Nilov said. A Just Russia is not planning to participate in rallies on Monday.

Earlier, representatives of the non-system opposition claimed they would protest against election results irrespective of the results. The city administration has applications for rallies new the municipal election commission and legislature.

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