MOSCOW, October 14 (Itar-Tass) —— Russian Prime Minister and leader of the ruling United Russia party Dmitry Medvedev has called on his fellow party members in regions to fulfill their election promises.
“We should remember the party promises and the voters’ mandates,” he said late on Sunday during a video conference with election headquarters in Russian regions that held elections on Sunday. “We must remember what regional and municipal authorities must do.” It is not politics, in his words, but everyday problems, such as the construction and repairs of roads, public security in the streets, housing and utilities tariffs, etc.
“This what regional and local authorities must do,” he said. “This is what will serve as criteria of United Russia’s commitment to its elections promises.”
In his words, the Sunday elections that were held under new rules were “civilized.” “As far as I understand no major violations were reported,” he said and added that it gives hope that further elections will be likewise democratic.
United Russia, he said, had a task to win these elections, to achieve maximum high results sticking to the rules of competition and acting within the current election laws.
He reminded that five Russian constituent regions elected their governors. “Many candidates took part in them – 21 candidates from nine political parties. Elections of governors were resumed in the country after an eight years’ break,” he noted.
The prime minister congratulated Oleg Kozhemyako who won a convincing victory in the gubernatorial elections in the Far Eastern Amur region.
“It is vital now to continue the course towards the development of the region,” he stressed.
According to the results of the counting of 98.21 percent of protocols from local election commission, Kozhemyako, who is the incumbent governor of the Amur region, is scoring 76.89 percent of the vote. The Russian Central Election Commission says the counting of the outstanding 1.5 percent of protocols is hardly capable of changing this result.