GERMANY: Russians in Berlin vote for a new president; widely presumed to be Vladimir Putin

Record ID: 327716

  • Title: GERMANY: Russians in Berlin vote for a new president; widely presumed to be Vladimir Putin
  • Date: 5th March 2012
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (German) RUSSIAN VOTER, TATYANA MARYUKHINA, SAYING: "It is my duty to vote today, and what do I expect? I want stability. I hope things get better and that's why we are voting. One has hope and one sees that there is a lot of movement in Russia and we support that." (SOUNDBITE) (German) RUSSIAN VOTER, ALEXANDER MENNER, SAYING: "It belongs to a civilised state where people who are dissatisfied give their opinion. I think it is also about giving people rights who are happy with the situation. I think the election should be fair and just and the winner should be recognised by everybody, whoever they voted for - that is my opinion." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE QUEUING TO REGISTER VARIOUS OF PEOPLE VOTING (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN VOTER, TATYANA MARYUKHINA, SAYING: (translation according to speaker) "It is my duty to vote today, and what I expect? I want stability. I hope things get better and that's why we are voting. One has hope and one sees that there is a lot of movement in Russia and we support that." (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN VOTER, ALEXANDER MENNER, SAYING: (translation according to speaker) "It belongs to a civilised state that people who are dissatisfied give their opinion. I think it is also about giving people rights who are happy with the situation. I think the election should be fair and just and the winner should be recognised by everybody, whoever they voted for - that is my opinion." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE VOTING VARIOUS OF PEOPLE QUEUING TO REGISTER
  • Embargoed: 20th March 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany, Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA13QX8VD02HRV3EV3MUGJL5YTQ
  • Story Text: As overseas polling stations opened on Sunday (March 4), Russians living in Berlin cast their votes in a presidential election that is likely to see the return of Vladimir Putin to the post after four years as prime minister.
    Putin is seeking a convincing victory to strengthen his hand in dealing with the biggest opposition protests since he rose to power 12 years ago.
    Critics question the legitimacy of a vote they say is skewed to help the former KGB spy return to the Kremlin after four years as prime minister, and are threatening to step up protests that began after a disputed parliamentary poll in December.
    Some voters seemed to want to change but spoke about wanting stability in the future.
    "I want stability. I hope things get better and that's why we are voting. One has hope and one sees that there is a lot of movement in Russia and we support that," Tatyana Maryukhina said from Berlin's Russian embassy.
    "I think the election should be fair and just and the winner should be recognised by everybody, whoever they voted for - that is my opinion," Alexander Menner added.
    Putin's victory was not really in doubt as voters cast ballots from Russia's Pacific coast across many sparsely populated swathes of territory to the western borders with the European Union. But he was hoping for an outright victory in the first round which he could portray as a strong mandate for six more years in power.
    Russia's opposition leaders, a fragmented group of activists, journalists and bloggers, are preparing rallies for the day after the vote and say the election is slanted in Putin's favour even without the vote rigging they expect.
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