Russia’s foreign minister has said the results of a probe into alleged fraud at the December 4 parliamentary elections will be open to the “international community.”
“President [Dmitry Medvedev] has already instructed the Prosecutor’s Office and Interior Ministry officials to investigate all complaints registered regarding the elections,” Sergei Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow.
“The results of the investigation will be made available to the Russian society as well as the international community,” he added.
The elections saw Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia party just maintain its parliamentary majority, despite widespread allegations of ballot-stuffing and coercion of voters.
Russia’s independent election monitoring organization Golos said it had logged more than 7,000 cases of falsifications.
Lavrov added that while the elections were Russia’s internal affair, it acknowledges foreign criticism.
Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the vote was “slanted in favor of the ruling party.”
The elections’ disputed result triggered a vast protest movement, with protesters demanding a recount of votes or a re-run.
Saturday saw Russia’s biggest protests since the fall of the Soviet Union, with tens of thousands turning up in Moscow alone.
Smaller rallies were also held in St. Petersburg and other cities.
Last week, Putin accused the United States of backing the protests and said that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s comments on the elections had “given a signal” to the protesters.
New demonstrations have been called for December 24.
