Electoral battles

Opposition party led by former PM Kasyanov loses regional polls

The liberal opposition party PARNAS, headed by former Russian PM Mikhail Kasyanov and backed by popular anti-corruption activist Aleksey Navalny, has failed to get a seat in the Kostroma regional legislature, losing to the four parliamentary parties.

The head of the Party of People’s Freedom’s election headquarters, Leonid Volkov, told reporters after the Sunday voting was complete that according to exit polls his comrades managed to secure only about 2.6 percent of votes. The preliminary data released by the regional elections commission suggested that less than two percent of voters threw their support behind PARNAS.