MOSCOW, September 20. /TASS/. Moscow is ready for a professional technical analysis of all aspects of the election campaign and attacks from a number of Western countries, thus there are no grounds for real claims against the Russian electoral system, Deputy Speaker of the Russian Federation Council (the upper house of parliament) Konstantin Kosachev.
"Ultimately, we are virtually invincible to actual claims against our electoral system. Allegations will pop up about this. Another statement by the European Parliament is likely to be announced. Perhaps, something will be mentioned in the [US] Congress or in PACE. They also have their duties. Observers from the OSCE and the ODIHR in OSCE will make excuses for their absence. But we are bracing ourselves for anything because we are ready for a professional <...> technical analysis of all aspects of the election campaign for years, for months, for days and during the voting and the counting," Kosachev noted.
He pointed out that the Russian Federation organizes its elections in such a way that it was near impossible to make any claims against it. Moscow has several incentives for that. One of them is the desire to organize transparent, fair and democratic elections for its citizens. Another [incentive] is that during the last few election cycles, attempts were made by the non-systemic, fringe opposition, which does not enjoy public support, to nitpick at the voting system, to accuse the authorities that their [oppositionists'] non-participation [in the elections] or their poor results are due to the ‘schemes’ of the authorities, or shortcomings of the system, therefore [the opposition is trying to discredit] the electoral system. We clearly saw these attempts, and this motivated us further," the expert added.
He also pointed out that over the past few years, efforts from overseas have been ramped up to defame Russia’s election. "Not everyone likes Russia, not everyone likes its [political] course, not everyone likes the current leadership. There is a desire from the collective West to promote a shift of power in Russia," the politician concluded.