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Duma commission views ODIHR’s decision as launch of program discrediting election

The lawmaker stressed that the commission analyzed the activity of the ODIHR observers over almost three decades: refusals to send observers to Russia occurred at the 2007 Duma elections and the 2008 presidential elections

Head of the State Duma commission on the investigation of foreign interference in Russia's internal affairs Vasily Piskarev Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

Head of the State Duma commission on the investigation of foreign interference in Russia's internal affairs Vasily Piskarev

© Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

MOSCOW, August 5. /TASS/. The decision made by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) not to send an observer mission to the State Duma election and the West’s clamorous reaction condemning the Russian Federation indicate that a program to discredit the Russian election has already been launched. This opinion was expressed by head of the State Duma commission on the investigation of foreign interference in Russia's internal affairs Vasily Piskarev.

"The actions of the OSCE ODIHR and the loud reaction condemning Russia on the part of Western officials (EU spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Nabila Massrali, OSCE Chair Ann Linde, the US mission at the OSCE) indicate that the program to discredit and delegitimize the elections in Russia has been launched while the actual results of the election simply don’t interest them," the commission’s Telegram channel quoted him as saying on Thursday.

The lawmaker stressed that the commission analyzed the activity of the ODIHR observers over almost three decades: refusals to send observers to Russia occurred at the 2007 Duma elections and the 2008 presidential elections. "The ODIHR does not send its observers when it understands that it won’t be able to detect any violations, significant to them, during the electoral campaign, there simply won’t be any reasons for loud statements on ballot stuffing and falsifications at these elections," the lawmaker said.

On Wednesday, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said on its website that it would be unable to send observers to the State Duma elections "due to limitations imposed by Russian Federation authorities on the election observation." According to ODIHR Director Matteo Mecacci, "the ability to independently determine the number of observers necessary for us to observe effectively and credibly is essential to all international observation."

The 8th State Duma elections are scheduled for September 19. The voting will stretch over three days: September 17, 18, and 19. Simultaneously, there will be direct elections for the heads of nine Russian regions (in three others, top executive officials will be elected by local legislatures) and 39 regional parliaments.

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