Council of Europe Mission Says Russia Needs Reforms

Russia needs real political change, not a "survival mechanism" for the current regime, a Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly delegation said Saturday.

The group, which observed last month's controversial parliamentary elections, was speaking in Moscow ahead of the presentation of its final report at a plenary session in Strasbourg on Monday.

Delegation leader Tiny Kox also warned that nationwide protests since the election against the political leadership were a "wake-up call" for Russia.

Russians have rallied in vast numbers since the December 4 vote, which handed ruling party United Russia a majority in the Duma, calling for change in the system dominated for nearly 12 years by Vladimir Putin.

The delegation noted "widespread indications of the need for political change in Russia, and called for this change to be substantial and sustainable," Kox said. "It should not be a survival mechanism."

"Recent mass demonstrations throughout Russia acted as a wake-up call" for the need to reform the electoral system, he said, reading from an official statement at a press conference in Moscow.

To rebuild public trust in the electoral system, Russia also required an "impartial referee who can guarantee that this game we call democracy is on a level playing field," he said.

The next mass rally has been scheduled for February 4, one month before the presidential vote in which Prime Minister Putin is expected to win a return to the Kremlin for his third presidential term.

Russia's Central Election Commission dismissed the European delegation's comments as "completely politicized" and accused the mission of overstepping its responsibilities.

"Observers make a conclusion regarding the organization of the elections and their adherence to electoral laws," commission member Tatyana Voronova told Interfax news agency.

Calling the vote unfair "can only be called politicized," she said.

The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) team said the elections were "marred by a convergence of the state and the governing party," with reports of many thousands of complaints.

"It has become evident that during the counting of the votes, things went wrong. There is no difference (of opinion) over that fact, but there is over the effect it had," said Kox.

Russian investigators said Saturday morning that they had opened 26 criminal cases into possible election violations, promising to make the probe fair and non-partisan.