Putin's United Russia party suffers poll setback
Found on BBC News on Sunday, 04 December 2011
With 68% of the vote counted, the Central Election Commission said United Russia had 49.9% of the vote, down from 64% in 2007.
"We have received thousands of calls from regional offices, confirming massive violations and fraud," said Communist Party deputy head Ivan Melnikov on the party website.
Prime Minister Putin has accused foreign powers of meddling in election preparations, while Duma members have questioned why a foreign-funded organisation is allowed to monitor Russian elections.
Russia is still far away from democracy. People may be allowed to make a decision on some piece of paper, but when the want-to-be dictator pulls the strings this doesn't mean much. After the Arab Spring, maybe it's time for a similar movement in Russia which gives control back to its people.