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Source: Vietnam+ |
Vladimir Putin was officially proclaimed the new president of Russia on Wednesday, March 7th, according to ITAR – TASS News Agency.
All members of the Central Election Commission signed the final protocol recording the results of the March 4 presidential election in Russia.
According to the final data, Putin received 45,602,075 votes (63.60 percent). He will be Russia’s president for the next six years.
Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov received 12,318,353 votes (17.18 percent); self-nominated candidate, billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov received 5,722,508 votes (7.98 percent); Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky received 4,458,103 votes (6.22 percent); and Just Russia leader Sergei Mironov received 2,763,935 votes (3.85 percent).
Gagik Tsarukyan, Chairman of the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), has congratulated Vladimir Putin on his “impressive victory”.
In his message Mr Tsarukyan pointed out that the PAP and United Russia have been cooperating for four years.
Chairman of the National Unity Artashes Geghamyan handed his congratulatory message over to the Russian Embassy in Armenia.
Vietnam also congratulated Russia for holding a successful presidential election and to Vladimir Putin for his triumph, said Vietnamese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Luong Thanh Nghi.
Spokesperson Nghi commented on the results after the Russian presidential election.
He said, “We believe that under the leadership of President Putin, Russian people will continue to reap successes in their modernisation course and the Russian Federation will prosper and raise its global role and status, contributing to peace, stability and prosperity in the region and elsewhere.”
“We also believe that the Vietnamese-Russian strategic partnership, which President Vladimir Putin ardently promoted, will continue with its robust development in the interests of both peoples and that the traditional friendship between the two countries will be long-lasting,” concluded the spokesman.
Other leaders also sent their congratulations: French President Nicolas Sarkozy congratulated Putin and encouraged him "to press ahead with the work of democratic and economic modernization." Foreign Minister Alain Juppe played bad cop, telling reporters, "The election has not been exemplary. That is the least you can say. The OSCE made significant criticisms."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has had numerous ups and downs with Putin over the years, called the president elect "to wish him success in the coming time in office, success above all also in the implementation and managing of the major tasks," according to a spokesperson.
David Cameron spoke with Putin on the phone about a "stronger relationship" despite "differences and areas of concern" but apparently avoiding directly congratulating him.
China has wholeheartedly endorsed Putin's victory – fraud charges be damned: "China respects the choice of the Russian people and supports Russia taking a development mode that fits its own domestic situation," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin. Liu added that President Hu Jintao had personally called Putin to offer his congratulations.
Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have also issued congratulatory statements. Belarus's Aleksandr Lukashenko and Ukraine's Viktor Yanukovych – two traditional Putin allies who have had a somewhat strained relationship with him of late – were also quite positive./.