Russia ’shut out’ election watchdog

Russia ’shut out’ election watchdog - Telegraph
Russia’s last pretensions to democratic credibility are hanging in the balance after Western observers abandoned plans to monitor a parliamentary election that critics have already dismissed as a sham.

The almost unprecedented decision is likely to set Russia and the West on a new collision course at a time when relations are already badly strained.
Already accused by domestic critics of engineering an electoral charade designed solely to strengthen Vladimir Putin’s autocratic rule, Russia now faces the added embarrassment of a vote robbed of legitimacy in the eyes of the international community.