Analysts pessimistically assess election results in Southern Russia

The elections in Southern Russia were uncontested and were accompanied by voting violations, while the opposition was unable to achieve noticeable results almost anywhere, since there are no prominent politicians in the regions, analysts note.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that from September 6 to 8, Russia held elections at various levels, including the elections of regional heads. Based on the results of counting most of the protocols, the current governors retained their leading positions in the elections in the Astrakhan and Volgograd Regions, in Kalmykia, and the Stavropol Territory.

Earlier, analysts have suggested that the federal centre is not interested in changing governors in the southern regions of Russia, preferring already proven personnel.

Activist Alexander Korovainy drew attention to the fact that the candidates who could compete with the heads of districts had been “filtered out.” So, the activist noted that in a large urban-type settlement in Kuban, three opposition parties – the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), the “Novye Lyudi” (New People) Party, and the “Spravedlivaya Rossiya” (Fair Russia) Party – did not nominate their candidates for the post of head of the municipality.

People have lost their faith in their representatives in the administrations, believes Alexander Baturinets, a member of the Yeisk District Council. “People have lost their faith in the openness and honesty of the election process itself ... It was clear even before the elections who would become a member of an administration. In essence, these were elections without ... any choice,” Alexander Baturinets wrote.