Corruption monitors say the issue of big money in politics pales in comparison to the abuse of government resources by the United Russia party of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who announced on March 04 he had won Russia's presidential election , returning the former KGB officer to the office he held from 2000 to 2008.
This YouTube video, according to a Russian blogger who shot it and posted it online, shows a deputy chairman of one of the polling places in Moscow, a member of United Russia party, stealing the ballots at the end of the voting day without following the procedure for the vote count and registering the official results.
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Speaking at the annual congress of the ruling United Russia party on Saturday, of which both Medvedev and Putin are members, the Russian president indicated that he would not seek re-election and was ready to make way for Putin to tackle the reforms Medvedev started.
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Consolidation of power in the hands of the ruling United Russia party has led to the growing apathy of the population.
According to a poll by Moscow-based Levada Center, nearly a third of Russian voters say that the United Russia party is most representative of their political interests.
Mr Putin, the bad cop, runs Russia and distributes the money, as he made clear in the recent conference of his United Russia party.
United Russia is the party of corruption, the party of crooks and thieves.
However Baroness Ashton pointed to reports by observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) who said the polls were slanted in favour of the pro-Kremlin party United Russia.
The party went from around 52 seats in the Parliament to over 90 on Sunday, its biggest jump yet as low turnout and voter dissatisfaction with Vladimir Putin and current President Dmitry Medvedev handed the ruling United Russia party a loss of nearly 80 seats.
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The ruling party, United Russia, lost a quarter of its seats in the vote - a big slump in its support.
Mr Navalny has become one of the best known opposition leaders, for his blogs alleging corruption among the elite, and for denouncing Mr Putin's United Russia as "the party of crooks and thieves".
In the Sunday vote, Putin's United Russia party swept 70 percent of the seats in the new legislature following a tense Kremlin campaign that relied on a combination of persuasion and intimidation to ensure victory.
In the studio, Navalny sat next to Evgeny Fedorov, a doughy, bespectacled member of the Duma and a fairly high-ranking member of United Russia, the political party led by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, which today dominates Russia.
This perception of corruption brought out thousands in protest against United Russia in the first weeks of December even though the party registered record losses of around 77 seats in the state Parliament.
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Preliminary election results give Putin's United Russia Party more than 60 percent of the vote.
Mr Putin is also backed by a parliament that is fully under the control of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party.
He can turn a phrase, and stuck the memorable "party of crooks and thieves" label on the ruling United Russia Party.
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At a recent forum in Krasnoyarsk for economists, business bigwigs and politicians, including some members of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, there was agreement that the state is not ready to negotiate with, let alone be controlled by, society, and that existing institutions are just a device for the redistribution of property.
He would also become the new president of United Russia, the most powerful political party in the country by a landslide.
The souring support for Mr. Putin was even worse news for his party, United Russia, which had never been much of a hit with the public.
"They are programmed from the Internet, " said Rizvan Kurbanov, a deputy representing Dagestan in the Duma, or Russian Parliament, who is a member of President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party.
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The Russian leader hasn't budged on opposition demands for a rerun of December parliamentary elections or an investigation of alleged vote fraud that has allowed his party, United Russia, to dominate Parliament.
Knopfler's decision was backed by opponents of President Vladimir Putin, whose United Russia Party passed a bill in November requiring all non-governmental organisations (NGOs) engaging in political activity and receiving overseas funding to register as "foreign agents".
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Putin's United Russia Party grabbed a little more than 64 percent of the vote in an election that saw heavy turnout.
Protesters charged that United Russia forced party staff at state governments to vote in favor of the party on Dec. 4.
As a result, the United Russia party convention voted almost unanimously to put Medvedev on top of the elections list, with 582 votes cast for him and only one vote against.
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Last December's parliamentary election delivered near-total control of the Duma and its committees to the pro-Putin United Russia party.
The six-party process -- including the nations of North Korea, South Korea, the United States, Russia, China and Japan -- is the diplomatic effort to address North Korea's nuclear program.
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In the elections, the ruling United Russia party lost 77 seats in the state Duma, taking them out of a full power position which enabled them to change the Russian constitution without needing votes from other parties.
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