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With all the ballots finally counted, the Central Election Commission has declared Vladimir Putin the winner with 63.6 per cent of the vote. A $300 million webcam network and as many as half a million independent observers were deployed to ensure unprecedented electoral transparency following popular anger at voting violations in December’s parliamentary poll.
One of the most controversial figures in Russian politics, this election veteran is known for his eccentric behavior.
Video profileHis track record includes two decades at the helm of the Communist Party and narrowly losing the 1996 ballot.
Video profileA candidate in the 2004 ballot who encouraged support for Putin, he is not so ready to give his rival a boost now.
Video profileTycoon-turned-politician, he is the only one out of the five candidates with no previous experience of running for president.
Video profileBefore becoming Prime Minister, he had already served two terms as Russia’s president.
Video profileZhirinovsky, 65, is the founder and leader of the right-wing Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) formed in the early 1990s. He was also vice chairman of the State Duma in 2007-2011. Zhirinovsky´s political career kicked off in 1988 when he began to take an active part in meetings and organizations that appeared during Glasnost under Mikhail Gorbachev. An outstanding orator and charismatic leader, he was quickly dubbed one of the most caustic and colorful figures in Russian politics.
He often heats up debates with a spot of shouting or physical shoving. Most of his statements about other politicians are extremely sharp. He remains in the national spotlight thanks to his combination of outlandish behavior and populist appeal. His antics include fistfights on the Duma floor and threatening to take Alaska back from the United States. Analysts often regard voting for Zhirinovsky, who´s already vied for the presidential post four times, as a protest vote.
State Duma Deputy and unchallenged leader of Russia´s second largest party, Gennady Zyuganov, 67, is one of the country´s most recognized politicians. By the end of the 1980s he had made a name for himself as one of the harshest critics of President Mikhail Gorbachev´s Perestroika and Glasnost policies. Slamming the liberal reforms that eventually led to the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 90s, Zyuganov helped form the new Communist Party of the Russian Federation, and became its chairman.
Zyuganov is a seasoned campaigner, having run for the presidential post in 1996, 2000 and 2008, coming second each time. The closest he ever came to the Kremlin seat was in 1996, when he garnered more than 40% of votes in the final round, losing to Boris Yeltsin. Although Zyuganov is criticized by some for not being oppositional and communist enough, and has even been called the grave-digger of the left-wing movement, he nonetheless boasts a significant number of supporters.
Sergey Mironov, 59, is the leader of Fair Russia, the political party he himself described as based on a social democratic platform. Holding five post-graduate degrees, including qualifications in geophysics, engineering and law, he has during the course of his career served in various professions. Mironov entered the national political scene in 2001, after working in the St. Petersburg political arena. Then President Putin nominated him for the position of Speaker of the Federation Council, which he ended up holding until 2011.
In the past, Mironov has supported both Putin and Medvedev. In 2004, while running for president, he was quoted as saying "We all want Vladimir Putin to be the next president". Later, his rhetoric changed. Not only has he found himself at odds with the United Russia party, but he has also declared publicly that "Putin must go". Mironov now promotes his party as the only real opposition.
With his more than two-meter height and impressive fortune, Mikhail Prokhorov is one of the most noticeable figures in the country´s business and political arenas. The 46-year-old is the bearer of the 2009 Forbes magazine title of richest man in Russia, and the first non-North American citizen to own an NBA team. He made his name in the financial sector and went on to become one of Russia´s leading industrialists in the precious metals sphere.
Prokhorov decided to delve into the world of politics in summer 2011, agreeing to become the leader of the right-wing Right Cause party. The stint was short-lived due to what he claimed was a plot by the Kremlin´s political mastermind, unhappy with Prokhorov´s independent stance. The independent candidate in the 2012 election has yet to find a wife. Prokhorov made headlines across the globe when French police detained him in 2007 in the ski resort of Courchevel – to question him on allegedly bringing prostitutes for a party.
Two-time Russian President and also twice Russian Prime minister, Vladimir Putin, 59, is one of the worlds´ best-known politicians. The former KGB officer he was brought into big politics in the early 1990s and was summoned to work in President Boris Yeltsin´s administration a few years later. After holding the posts of head of the Russian security services – the FSB – and then prime minister, in 2000 Putin was propelled into the top job after Yeltsin´s surprise retirement.
Putin´s hardline politics and his tough law-and-order image brought him victory over all his rivals at the start of the millennium, and again four years later. Strongly criticized by the Western media for being "autocratic", Putin was praised by his supporters for driving Russia´s economic and political revival. As the Russian constitution didn´t allow the president to run for a third consecutive term, in 2008 he backed Dmitry Medvedev as his successor and stepped down to the post of prime minister. According to official figures, Putin remains the most popular political figure in Russia since 1999.
rt_ask_rc
Adopt a new title for the country´s leader - Supreme ruler instead of President. Single, five-year term for the head of the state. Switch to parliamentary republic. Recognize Russian as the main ethnicity of the country, decriminalize extremism.
Decrease the number of migrants. Revive industry and agriculture, create jobs. Use reserves to solve existing problems. Protection, subsidized loans and premises for medium and small businesses. Stop price surges.
Reinvigorate the idea of family and a special ministry for control over the demographic situation. Affordable housing for young people. Cancel the Single State Exam for school leavers. Free education and healthcare. Raise pensions.
Implement a large-scale amnesty, end the death penalty moratorium, ban personal ownership of weapons. Tougher punishment for terrorists. Compulsory treatment for drug-users. Battle corruption.
Professional army instead of conscription, elimination of bullying in the military. Stop doing the bidding of the West, prevent military bases from appearing near Russia´s borders. Drop WTO accession plans.
Early parliamentary elections and more power to the parliament. Limit presidential tenure to five years, and two terms in total. Introduce a new post of vice-president, who will be chosen together with the head of the state.
Compulsory TV debates for party leaders and presidential candidates. Tougher punishment for falsification of voting results. New referendum law giving more power to the people. Special anti-corruption legislation.
Nationalize natural resources and other strategic industries. Reduce economy´s dependency of raw materials. Progressive income taxes. State control over prices.
New labor legislation and protection of wage workers´ rights. Free housing for families with low income. Cheap heating, energy and utility services. Free education and quality medical services.
Restore national security and revive Russia´s military. Channel efforts towards boosting UN´s role, decreasing NATO´s influence and forging closer ties between former Soviet states.
Presidential tenure limited to two terms in total. Referenda for most important issues. Mandates of any party in representative power bodies legally limited to no more than 50 per cent. No privileges for parliamentarians.
Corruption equated to treason. Judges chosen by the people, extended use of juries. Budget increase through progressive income and luxury taxes. Access to natural resource deposits for Russian residents only.
Tighter state control over prices of socially important goods and services. Revision of the pension system. Program of public rental housing. State interest-free home loans for young families.
No Single State Exam for school leavers. Ban on paid services in state clinics. Program aimed at eliminating homelessness among children. Ratification of UN convention on the Rights of persons with disabilities.
Temporarily reallocation of part of military budget towards solving social problems. Increased terrorism and crime prevention measures. Efforts aimed at eliminating ambiguity in relations with NATO.
Early parliamentary elections. Early presidential election in four years. President´s tenure limited to two terms. New electoral law reflecting the interests of all political parties. Fewer privileges for civil servants.
Create a special agency for fighting corruption in law enforcement, reporting directly to the president. Courts to resolve disputes between citizens and authorities. Extended use of jury service.
Drastic reduction of government´s managerial involvement in the economy. Reduction of taxes on the competitive sector. Fewer criminal code articles involving incarceration for economic crimes.
No Single State Exam for school leavers. Program of public rental housing, guaranteed minimum of domestic utility services at lower cost. Social inclusion for people with disabilities. New benefits to existing family allowances.
Professional army, with no military conscription from 2015. Focus on achieving maximum economic integration with Russia´s main economic partner, the European Union.
Mechanisms enabling people to control authorities´ activity in areas liable to corruption. Courts for disputes between citizens and officials. Put important bills and decisions through a thorough public discussion.
Double labor efficiency in the next decade. Create 25 million new well-paid jobs in the next 20 years, favorable conditions for investments and development of private business. Support innovations. Luxury taxes.
Ensure growth of pensions and social benefits, elimination of poverty. Increase state support for families with children. Improve the procedure of the Single State Exam for school leavers.
Ban smoking, and the advertising of cigarettes and alcohol in public areas. More focus on environmental issues. Construction of easy-to-reach sport facilities, barrier-free environment for disabled people.
Minimize illegal immigration, give more power to the migration authorities. Serious modernization of the army. Appropriate reaction to any moves by international partners not taking into account Russia´s position.
WINNERDmitry Medvedev
This election was marked by the absence of the minimum turnout requirement and "against all" option in the ballots. The candidate backed by Vladimir Putin won by a landslide. Although Dmitry Medvedev got a smaller percentage of votes than his predecessor in 2004, the actual number of ballots cast in his support was higher due to a greater turnout.
WINNERVladimir Putin
Vying for a second term in office, Vladimir Putin was the only candidate with experience in running for president. The dynamics were different from the previous ballots, as this time the country´s main opposition forces were not represented by their leaders. Putin secured a landslide victory, setting a new record.
WINNERVladimir Putin
This pre-term ballot was held following Boris Yeltsin´s surprise decision to step down at the very end of 1999. The winner, Vladimir Putin, was dubbed by the first Russian president himself as his successor. Putin held the post of Prime Minister prior to Yeltsin´s resignation and was appointed acting president afterwards.
WINNERBoris Yeltsin
The only Russian election (as of February 2012) to require two rounds to determine the winner. Remembered for the tight race between the ultimate victor Boris Yeltsin and communist leader Gennady Zyuganov. The president was chosen for four years in accordance with the 1993 Constitution.
WINNERBoris Yeltsin
The first Russian presidential ballot. The leader of what was then still a Soviet republic was chosen for a term of five years. Boris Yeltsin acquired control of the nuclear arsenal and moved to the Kremlin only after the collapse of the USSR and the resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev from the post of the President of the Soviet Union several months after the election.
election_blogs
The impression given by Vladimir Putin’s final manifesto article, which focused on foreign affairs , is not comforting. It portrays Russia as being...
When Vladimir Putin became president in 1999, at a time when Russia was a basket case of problems, some half-jokingly called it divine intervention...
Now more than ever, Russia needs a leader who, on the one hand, can have the trust of most of the country and on the other hand, is capable of...
promo
05.03, 19:40
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Thousands have taken to the streets of Moscow for two major rallies – for and against the outcome of the presidential vote. People on Manege Square celebrated Putin’s victory while those on Pushkin Square protested the result.
05.03, 17:00
38
Following a landslide victory in Sunday’s presidential elections, President-elect Vladimir Putin must now fulfill his campaign promises to millions of loyal constituents who are anxious to see tangible improvements in their lives.
05.03, 16:34
20
Vladimir Putin has assured his rival candidates that all reports of violations will be carefully investigated by the Central Elections Commission.
05.03, 22:40
10
A joyful pre-election disco at a polling station, or a voter doing the moonwalk - webcams set up in polling stations across Russia to monitor presidential elections revealed more than just ballot-casting.
election_episodes
