As expected, following a three day ‘vote’, Vladimir Putin has once again crowned himself president of Russia.
As of 9 a.m. Moscow time, according to the central electoral commission, 99.7 per cent of ballot papers had been counted with Putin claiming 87 per cent of the vote – higher than he’s managed in any other previous election. That didn’t stop Putin calling a press conference on Sunday evening – when supposedly just 40 per cent or so of the vote had been counted – to declare himself the victor.
As his gloating press conference showed, Putin considers the democratic charade of the past three days to have been a success
Putin’s press conference was extraordinary, not just because he’d clearly dropped the pretence of the result still being unknown.
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