Council of Europe fears Russia vote won't be fair

MOSCOW-The only Western observers planning to monitor Russia's presidential vote said on Friday the campaign was unfair and slanted in favor of Kremlin front-runner Dmitry Medvedev.Russia's opposition has called the March 2 vote a farce because television is flooded with favorable coverage of Medvedev, the man outgoing President Vladimir Putin has endorsed to succeed him."While in principle the coverage is equal, one of the candidates-the very important one-enjoys the benefits of his office so in reality it is not equal," said Andreas Gross, head of an election observation team from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe."An election where there is not a level playing field for all contestants can hardly be considered as fair," he told a news conference."We are afraid that the election will not be fair enough and not free enough but the game is not over yet ... because it can still be improved and we will come and see what happens from now to then."The criticism is likely to deal a new blow to the election's already-dented international credibility.Europe's main election watchdog, from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), on Thursday pulled out of monitoring the vote. It blamed restrictions imposed by Moscow for forcing it to withdraw.

To read more go to:

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL3011403920080208

As in the days of Noah....