Moldova election: Pro-EU parties edge pro-Russian rivals

Partial results from Moldova's parliamentary elections show that pro-EU parties have a narrow lead over those backing closer ties with Russia. With 80% of the votes counted, the three pro-Western parties have about 44%. The opposition has 40%. No party appears to be able to form a government, and tough post-election bargaining is predicted. On the eve of the vote, one pro-Russian party was banned from Sunday's poll - a move criticised by Russia. The elections have taken on a wider significance in the shadow of the bloody crisis in neighbouring Ukraine.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30265985

Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk Resigns

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced his resignation Thursday, opening the way for new elections that would reflect the country's starkly changed political scene after the ouster of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in February. Yatsenyuk, a supporter of closer ties with Europe and a key participant in the protests that toppled Yanukovych, made the announcement from the dais of Parliament after two parties said they would pull out of the governing coalition. He said Parliament could no longer do its work and pass necessary laws. President Petro Poroshenko, elected to replace Yanukovych May 25, earlier praised the withdrawal of the two parties. He said that "all opinion polls, and direct conversations with people, show that society wants a complete rebooting of the government." Poroshenko's calls for political renewal suggests the resignation and new elections are the result of planning and political maneuvering, not chaos.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/24/arseniy-yatsenyuk-resigns_n_5617322.html

Billionaire Poroshenko declares victory in Ukraine

Billionaire Petro Poroshenko declared victory Sunday in Ukraine's presidential election, following preliminary exit polls that suggested he received 56% of the vote. His closest challenger, former Ukrainian prime minister and leader of the Batkivshchyna party Yulia Tymoshenko, conceded the election after exit polls showed her with 13% of the vote. Poroshenko, a candy tycoon known as the "Chocolate King," is also a seasoned politician. The election took place Sunday despite a recent wave of deadly violence in the east and threats by pro-Russia separatists to prevent citizens from casting their ballots. Voters were picking a successor to ousted pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych in a country torn apart by Russia's takeover of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and by bloody conflict with pro-Russia factions.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/25/world/europe/ukraine-crisis/

Ukraine PM Resigns in Bid to Defuse Crisis

Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov announced his resignation Tuesday in what he said was a bid to quell the deepening political crisis created by protests in the former Soviet nation. The announcement came as lawmakers gathered for a special session of parliament to seek an end to the standoff that has paralyzed the political system since authorities took a surprise decision in November to back away from closer ties with the European Union. But it was unclear early Tuesday afternoon whether Azarov’s decision to step aside would lead to a softening in the position of the emboldened opposition, which is demanding fresh elections. “The acute and dangerous conflict for our people, for the fate of Ukraine, demands further responsible steps,” Azarov said in a statement posted on the Cabinet website. His resignation should also lead to dissolution of the government.

http://en.ria.ru/world/20140128/186985077/Ukraine-PM-Resigns-in-Bid-to-Defuse-Crisis.html

Azerbaijan's Arrest of Vote Monitor Draws Outcry

The arrest of an independent election monitor in the oil-rich authoritarian former Soviet state of Azerbaijan drew vocal international condemnation Tuesday. A court in the capital, Baku, on Monday ordered that Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center chairman Anar Mammadli be detained for three months as investigations are carried out into claims he was engaged in illegal entrepreneurship. The center, which has for years faced routine harassment from the authorities, conducted extensive monitoring of widely criticized October elections that secured a third term in power for iron-fisted President Ilham Aliyev. The US Embassy in Azerbaijan said it was deeply troubled by Mammadli’s arrest and that it was compelled to question whether the “detention is related to his organization's election monitoring and reporting activities.”

http://en.ria.ru/world/20131217/185661073/Azerbaijans-Arrest-of-Vote-Monitor-Draws-Outcry.html

Observers Find Violations at 'All Stages' of Azerbaijan Elections

International observers have criticized “serious” and “overwhelming” violations during Wednesday presidential elections in oil-rich Azerbaijan that resulted in a landslide win for autocratic incumbent Ilham Aliyev. Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe identified voter intimidation, a restrictive media environment during the election campaign and violations at all stages of the voting process in a preliminary report on the elections released Thursday. The former Soviet nation’s Central Elections Commission gave Aliyev, 51, who succeeded his father as leader of Azerbaijan in 2003, almost 85 percent of the vote in preliminary results. His closest rival, opposition candidate and prominent academic Camil Hasanli, managed just 5.18 percent. “Significant problems were observed throughout all stages of election day processes,” the OSCE report said. “Counting was assessed in overwhelmingly negative terms, with 58 percent of observed polling stations assessed as bad or very bad, indicating serious problems.” The OSCE also criticized the lack of a level playing field for the 10 officially registered candidates, noting “the restrictive legal framework and disproportionate coverage of the incumbent President.”

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20131010/184049357/Observers-Find-Violations-at-All-Stages-of-Azerbaijan-Elections.html

Kremlin: No Job for Navalny

The Kremlin is not considering the possibility of offering a position in the echelons of power to opposition leader Alexei Navalny until he proves himself as a capable politician, the head of the presidential administration said. “Why, on Earth, the authorities should discuss something like this? On what grounds?” Sergei Ivanov said in an interview published Tuesday by four Russian media outlets, including the Rossiskaya Gazeta newspaper. “For that, one has to prove that he is capable of doing something. And, for starters, one has to win something, at least the elections of the head of a municipal council…but nothing like that happened,” Ivanov said referring to Navalny’s lack of political experience and his recent loss in the race for Moscow mayor. Navalny, a politically ambitious anti-corruption blogger who helped organize large-scale anti-Kremlin protests in Moscow in 2011-2012, came in second place in September 8 elections receiving an impressive 27.2 percent of the vote versus the 51.3 percent had by former Kremlin administration head and incumbent Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20131001/183871016/No-Power-Job-Offers-for-Opposition-Leader-Navalny--Kremlin.html

Moscow City Court Refuses To Scrap Mayoral Election Results

The Moscow City Court has refused to annul the mayoral election results that were contested by Alexei Navalny, an opposition activist and the runner-up in the election, RAPSI learned in the courtroom Friday. One major lawsuit was filed with the Moscow City Court along with 951 minor ones lodged with other courts in Moscow. The lawsuits are based on Navalny's theories of uneven media coverage for the candidates, as well as attempts to sway the vote of Moscow's senior citizens by unlawful means. The mayoral election took place in Moscow on September 8. Navalny received 27.24% of the vote, compared with the 51.37% received by Sergei Sobyanin, a former Kremlin official, according to the city's election commission. Communist Party nominee Ivan Melnikov received 10.69%, and the three remaining candidates all scored in the single digits. Independent election monitor GOLOS, which deployed a network of election observers, placed Sobyanin's result at 49.45%and Navalny's at 28.56%. Navalny claimed earlier on his blog that at least 28,000 ballots, or 2% of the vote, were rigged to give Sobyanin more than 50%, thus ruling out a runoff.

Moscow Courts Receive 447 Navalny's Lawsuits Against Mayoral Election Results

447 lawsuits filed by Alexei Navalny, an opposition activist and the runner-up in the mayoral election, against the election results have been submitted to the district courts of Moscow, the Moscow City Court's press office told RAPSI on Friday. According to the statement, 16 courts received the lawsuits. Navalny filed numerous lawsuits with The Moscow City Court contesting the election results. One large lawsuit was filed with the Moscow City Court along with 951 more to be filed in various jurisdictions throughout Moscow. The lawsuits are based on Navalny's theories of uneven media coverage for the candidates, as well as attempts to sway the vote of Moscow's senior citizens by unlawful means.

http://www.rapsinews.com/judicial_news/20130913/268829019.html

Opposition Candidate Roizman Wins Ekaterinburg Mayoral Elections

Opposition candidate Yevgeny Roizman won a surprise victory against the pro-Kremlin candidate in the mayoral election in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, but the local elections chief warned that the preliminary results might be re-evaluated after reports of fraud. Roizman, who heads the City Without Drugs organization and ran on the ticket of the Civic Platform party, was elected mayor with 30.11 percent of the Sunday vote after 100 percent of ballots were counted, Interfax reported, citing the city's elections committee. United Russia candidate Yakov Silin, who also serves a deputy governor of the Sverdlovsk region, whose main city is Yekaterinburg, placed second with 26.48 percent. The winning candidate needs only a simple majority to win.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/opposition-candidate-roizman-wins-in-yekaterinburg-by-4/485742.html

Incumbent Wins Moscow Mayoral Elections, Navalny Finishes Second

A nearly complete vote count shows the incumbent Moscow mayor has garnered 51 percent of the vote, with opposition leader Alexei Navalny finishing second. The Moscow Election Commission said Monday morning that Sergei Sobyanin got 51 percent of the vote and Navalny 27 percent with 99.8 percent of the vote counted. That leaves Navalny, who has energized Moscow's opposition in his grassroots campaign, 1 percent short of the run-off. Navalny's campaign chief said overnight they will not recognize the official result because of the vote-rigging they say they have witnessed. Navalny would not comment on the result until all the votes are counted. The Moscow mayoral race was being watched as a pivotal test for the Russian opposition and Navalny who was recently convicted of embezzlement, the charges that he says are politically motivated.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/09/09/russian-opposition-leader-finishes-2nd-in-moscow-mayoral-race-incumbent-mayor/
http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130909/183287786/Sobyanin-Leads-in-Mayoral-Election-After-98-of-Votes-Counted.html

Putin Distrusts Navalny

Moscow mayoral candidate and opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s anti-corruption campaign may stem from a drive for popular support rather than a genuine concern for the public interest, President Vladimir Putin claimed Wednesday. He cited Navalny’s recent conviction for embezzlement as a mark against the authenticity of his anti-corruption platform. “If a person talks about a fight against corruption, he himself must be, above all, spotlessly clean,” he said in an interview with the Associated Press and Russia's state TV network Channel 1. “I unfortunately have suspicions that this is just a way to score points rather than a genuine desire to solve problems.” Navalny, who has based his opposition activism and election campaign for Moscow mayor on a vociferous anti-corruption platform, was found guilty of embezzlement in mid-July and sentenced to five years in prison. Many observers and his supporters claimed the trial was a politically motivated attempt to stop his anti-corruption drive.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130904/183159835/Navalny-Anti-Corruption-Campaign-May-Not-be-Genuine---Putin.html

Navalny Briefly Detained

The opposition Moscow mayoral candidate Alexei Navalny was briefly detained Sunday over alleged violations during a rally, police said. Navalny was “invited to a police precinct for a conversation in connection with violations” made during the rally he held for his supporters, a Moscow police representative told RIA Novosti. In a video posted by Navalny’s team, two dozen police officers are seen going through the crowd to the stage on which the anti-corruption crusader was standing. Navalny is heard telling the crowd to “go home” and following the policemen. About an hour later, Navalny said on Twitter that he had been taken to northeastern Moscow in a police van and released after a police officer told him that “nobody had detained him.” Police also told RIA Novosti that 10 people were detained at Navalny’s rally for “petty hooliganism,” public drunkenness, improper installation of a temporary stage and the unsanctioned use of audio recording equipment.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130825/182962767/Navalny-Briefly-Invited-to-Police-Station-After-Rally.html
http://www.echo.msk.ru/blog/echomsk/1143300-echo/#video (video)

Moscow Police Storm Navalny Supporters' Apartment

Police in Moscow took by storm an apartment where several supporters of the Russian opposition’s mayoral candidate in Moscow, Alexey Navalny, were holed up. Apparently, the authorities suspected that the apartment was an “illegal campaign headquarter.” The police produced no search warrant. They used a sledgehammer and a chainsaw to break the door. The results of the search have not yet been officially announced.

http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2254886 (video)
http://finrosforum.wordpress.com/2013/08/13/navalny-supporters-under-siege/comment-page-1/
http://navalny.livejournal.com/836824.html

Navalny Wants Acting Moscow Mayor Checked for Corruption

Mayoral candidate Alexei Navalny has asked the Investigative Committee to check whether his main rival in the Sept. 8 election, acting Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, and his elder daughter Anna are involved in corruption, he wrote in his LiveJournal blog Tuesday. Navalny posted copies of documents showing that Anna Sobyanina owns a high-end apartment with an estimated value of $3.5 million in downtown St. Petersburg and Forus Group, which supplies luxury furniture to government agencies. The news comes days after City Hall confirmed that Sobyanin's younger daughter, Olga, owns an apartment with an estimated value of $5.3 million in Moscow. Navalny has accused Sobyanin of illegally privatizing the apartment. "It is an amazing coincidence," Navalny said in his blog. "The talented daughter of government official Sobyanin has skilfully supplied furniture to places where her father Sergei Sobyanin held official positions."

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/navalny-wants-sobyanin-his-elder-daughter-checked-for-corruption/484535.html
http://navalny.livejournal.com/836448.html

Prosecutors: Navalny Accepts Illegal Foreign Donations

Russian prosecutors said Monday that Moscow mayoral candidate and opposition leader Alexei Navalny has accepted illegal donations from abroad to fund his electoral campaign. The allegations were immediately denied by Navalny, while Yandex.Money, the online electronic payments system used by the Navalny campaign, said that it had not been contacted by prosecutors over the issue. “The information about foreign funding for Navalny’s electoral campaign was confirmed during checks,” the Prosecutor General’s Office said in an online statement published Monday. “More than 300 foreign individuals and organizations, and anonymous donors from 46 countries (including the United States, Finland, Britain, Sweden and Canada) from 347 IP addresses have sent money to the electronic fund of Navalny and members of his campaign headquarters,” the statement said. Navalny ridiculed prosecutors in a subsequent blog post, pointing out that a foreign IP address does not mean that a donation was made by a foreign citizen and adding that all donations to his campaign were approved by Moscow’s Election Commission or were returned to the donors.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130812/182718858/Navalnys-Moscow-Mayor-Bid-Took-Illegal-Foreign-Cash---Prosecutors.html

37 Business Leaders Back Navalny in Moscow Mayoral Race

A group of 37 CEOs and entrepreneurs from Russian internet companies and start-up businesses have announced their backing for opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s bid to become mayor of Moscow in a rare intervention in favor of opposition politics by Russian business. Their support for Navalny at the upcoming election, in which he is aiming to unseat incumbent Sergei Sobyanin, will be logistical, as well as financial, according to a “social contract” signed by the business leaders and published by Navalny on his blog. Russian business has largely avoided backing the opposition since billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky was jailed in 2003 and his oil company, Yukos, was broken up. Khodorkovsky remains in prison.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130807/182625362/37-Business-Leaders-Back-Navalny-in-Moscow-Mayoral-Race.html

Kremlin Denies That Putin Played Role in Navalny's Release

The Kremlin's spokesman on Monday said President Vladimir Putin had played no role in opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s sudden release from jail last week. Navalny, who is running for mayor of Moscow, was taken into custody Thursday upon being sentenced to five years in prison for masterminding a 2009 embezzlement scheme that allegedly cost the Russian city of Kirov half a million dollars. However, the opposition leader was unexpectedly released a day after his sentencing upon a request by the federal Prosecutor General’s Office, raising eyebrows around the country and prompting speculation about who might have been behind the decision. Russia’s Vedomosti business daily reported Monday, citing anonymous sources, that acting mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, had personally asked for Navalny to be let out of jail so that he could run for mayor. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, denied that report in an interview with the Business FM radio station, saying he had “no information on this subject.” He also said it was wrong to consider that Putin was involved. “The court’s decision to put him [Navalny] in custody in the courtroom was protested according to a legal procedure, and it is absolutely illogical and wrong to involve the president in this respect,” Peskov said.

http://en.ria.ru/politics/20130722/182364853/Kremlin-Denies-That-Putin-Played-Role-in-Navalnys-Release.html

Navalny Registered as Moscow Mayor Candidate

Moscow electoral commission has registered whistleblower Aleksey Navalny as a candidate in the mayoral race, just one day before his sentencing in an old graft case. Navalny runs on the liberal party RPR-PARNAS ticket – it is a relatively young project uniting the Republican Party of Russia and the Party of People’s Freedom, or PARNAS. However, the situation with Navalny’s participation in the polls can still change, as on the day after registration a court in the provincial city of Kirov must pronounce its verdict in the so called Kirovles case. Navalny is on trial over large-scale embezzlement of state property for which he faces up to 6 years in prison. The whistleblower has repeatedly attacked the process as fabricated ,and claimed that it was the revenge of the Russian authorities for his opposition activities – the most well known is running a blog and a web-site disclosing suspected cases of corruption and other felonies by top civil servants and executives of state corporations. Convicted criminals cannot take part in elections but the sentence will not come into force until the defense runs out of appeals, which can take longer than there is left until the election date which is September 8. At the same time, if Navalny is sentenced to prison he could be immediately taken into custody.

http://rt.com/politics/navalny-moscow-mayoral-candidate-197/

Navalny Submits Application to Run for Moscow Mayor

Russian anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny on Wednesday submitted a complete package of documents necessary to be registered as a candidate for the post of Moscow mayor, the election authorities said. Navalny was nominated in June by the Moscow branch of the opposition party RPR-Parnas, short for “Republican Party of Russia – People's Freedom Party,” led by a number of former government officials who have vocally criticized President Vladimir Putin and the ruling United Russia party. He needed the signatures of at least 110 municipal lawmakers to be able to pass what is called the "municipal filter" and run in the September 8 mayoral election. “The candidate nominee from RPR-Parnas, Alexei Navalny, has submitted the signatures of municipal lawmakers and an application for registration,” a spokesman for the Moscow City Election Commission said.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130710/182166971/Navalny-Submits-Application-to-Run-for-Moscow-Mayor.html
http://www.echo.msk.ru/blog/navalny/1112620-echo/