Vladimir Putin, the former KGB officer who had been the President of Russia for over two decades now, was elected to continue his presidentship till 2036 after a landslide win. The election commission had released the results after counting 99.9% of ballots. Just 21% of voters had voted against him. The voter turnout was recorded at 65%, in an election period that was stretched over seven days due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Unlike the rest of the world, Russia has six-year terms for its Presidents. This means that this election win has earned Putin the right to run for two more six-year terms after his current term ends in 2024. This grants the Russian President, who is now aged 67, the right to rule until the age of 83.
These results were faced with a lot of dissent, since the opposition leader Alexei Navalny had cried foul play over the results. Navalny was quoted saying that this was nothing but an attempt to legalise Putin’s presidency for life. He said in a video that the opposition would not protest for now because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, but would do so in big numbers in the autumn if its candidates were blocked from taking part in regional elections or their results were falsified.
A lot of sources attributed his victory to the prizes ranging from gift certificates to cars and apartments, which were offered as an encouragement to voters. Additionally, Putin had also ordered a Putin ordered one-off payments of 10,000 roubles (£113) to be sent to those with children.