Kremlin-backed parties kept their majority in Moscow's municipal legislature, according to final vote results on Monday morning. However, they saw their support slashed after months of protests over the vote that barred opposition voices and critics of President Vladimir Putin from running for office.

Although Putin is technically an independent, he has strong ties to United Russia, which reportedly came away with only 26 of the Moscow Duma's 45 seats, a major drop from the 38 it held before. Some former United Russia members had branded themselves independents before the vote, however, as support for the party has plummeted amidst rising poverty across the country.

Two other parties that are loosely controlled by the Kremlin, the Communists and the center-left A Just Russia are expected to win 14 and 4 seats, respectively.

Yabloko, a small social liberal and green party, is on track for three seats. Its lead candidate Sergei Mitrokhin had been initially barred from running, but was allowed to contest the election after a city court in his favor.

Daria Besedina, a Yabloko candidate who won her district, wrote on Twitter that despite the minor victory "We shouldn't forget that these were not real elections... a lot of genuine (opposition) candidates who would have won were not allowed to run... Moscow would have got an opposition Duma if all the candidates were registered."

Read more: Georgia's parliament backs 'Moscow's man' for prime minister

Opposition blocked from running

In mid-July, the Central Election Commission refused to register most opposition politicians as candidates, claiming that the signatures of support they had gathered in order to run were falsified.

One such candidate was popular anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, whose Russia of the Future party had been hoping to make gains against United Russia head of national elections in 2021. However, 20 candidates linked to his Smart Voting campaign to strengthen opposition voices now have seats in the Moscow Duma.

"This is a terrific result, and we fought for it together," Navalny wrote on Twitter.

Despite massive protests, the electoral commission did not budge on its decision to exclude Navalny from the election.

Local elections were held across the country, but the Moscow vote was the most closely watched following the summer of demonstrations.

Also on Monday, Russian state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor accused tech giants Google and Facebook of election meddling, saying they displayed local election ads despite being asked to remove them.

Google has said it supported responsible political advertising.

United Russia won several governorships across the country, but notably suffered heavy losses in the far east of the country. Indeed, the Liberal Democratic Party won all but one seat in the Khabarovsk City Duma and dominated in several other local elections including the mayoral vote.





Protests in Moscow called by Navalny Weekly protests Protesters gathered in Moscow to reject the barring of some opposition and independent candidates from the Moscow City Council election on September 8. For the past month, demonstrators have shown their discontent on a weekly basis.

Protests in Moscow called by Navalny Freedom for political prisoners Opposition politician Alexei Navalny's team organized the demonstration. The opposition leader was just recently released from a 30-day jail sentence for holding unsanctioned protests. In addition to rallying for banned candidates, marchers were also seen holding placards demanding freedom for political prisoners

Protests in Moscow called by Navalny Demands 'right and reasonable' Lyubov Sobol (right), an associate of Navalny and one of those whose candidacy had been rejected, took part in the demonstrations. "Our demands are right and reasonable. We have significant support, we have the right to be on the ballot," Sobol said. "I want political rights of Muscovites to be respected."

Protests in Moscow called by Navalny Unauthorized assembly The police have been criticized for their handling of the protests, which have seen some 2,000 people arrested. This time, officers did not try to detain protesters, but asked them to leave through loudspeakers. The march, like many, had not been authorized to take place, a legal requirement in Russia in recent years.

Protests in Moscow called by Navalny High political tension in Russia Some clashes took place at the march between demonstrators and others seeking to disrupt the demos. Moscow's city council has relatively little power and its election does not usually garner this much attention. But the candidates' disqualification touched a nerve with citizens' frustration with their country's restrictive politics. Author: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez



es/rt (AP, dpa, Reuters)

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