Russian democracy in question

The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has hailed the result of 7 December 2003 elections for the lower house of parliament as another step towards "strengthening democracy" in Russia. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which had 400 observers in Russia in the build-up to and during the vote, described it as a "regression in the democratisation of the country".

• Primary Source

http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/russia/parliamentary_2003 http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/russia/parliamentary_2003

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3300483.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3300483.stm

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