Global General

Special

Newsmaker

Asia Pacific

America

Middle East

Europe

Africa

Medvedev: Election laws may be amended

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-10-27 22:36

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev attends a joint military exercise "Interaction-2009" in Matybulak October 16, 2009. [Agencies]

MOSCOW: President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday he did not rule out changes to electoral laws, Russian news agencies reported.

"The president noted that even in countries with mature democracy changes to the electoral system do happen," the agencies reported after Medvedev met Central Election Commission head Vladimir Churov.

Related readings:  Russia Considers Adopting Chinese Government Model  Family Guy spoofs Russia's Putin as macho spychief  Putin takes Berlusconi for wild water ride  Chinese Premier Wen meets Russia's Putin  Putin's 1st official visit to Beijing enthuses Russian media

"The rules are changing, the technology is changing, we should be reasonably conservative," Medvedev told Churov.

The pro-Kremlin United Russia party, led by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, scored a sweeping victory in a string of regional polls held on October 11, consolidating further its domination in federal and provincial legislatures.

Medvedev hailed United Russia's victory but the vote became a headache for the president, who had promised to make Russia's political system more flexible and allow smaller parties to regain some weight.

Opposition parties, which viewed the polls as an indicator of Medvedev's commitment to stand up to his promises on democracy, accused the authorities of massive election fraud.

On Saturday, Medvedev met leaders of the three opposition parties in his Gorki residence outside Moscow, also the venue of his meeting with Churov, advising them to challenge any election irregularities in court if they had any complaints.