Earlier in the day, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada passed a
resolution on non-recognition of the legitimacy of Russia’s parliamentary
elections over voting in Crimea.
MOSCOW, September 20. /TASS/. A senior Russian lawmaker
said on Tuesday the Ukrainian parliament’s calls not to recognize Sunday’s
elections to the Russian State Duma lower parliament house are "ridiculous
and void."
Earlier in the day, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada, or
Parliament, passed a resolution on non-recognition of the legitimacy of
Russia’s parliamentary elections over voting in Crimea. The document won
support from 264 Ukrainian lawmakers whereas 226 votes are needed to pass a
bill or a resolution. The resolution says that Rada lawmakers will turn to the
United Nations Security Council and General Assembly, to parliaments of foreign
states, parliamentary assemblies and international organizations with a
"call not to recognize legitimacy of the elections to the Russian seventh
State Duma."
"Rada’s calls not to recognize the elections to the
Russian State Duma were quite predictable but they are ridiculous and void
anyway," Leonid Slutsky, the chairman of the State Duma committee for the
affairs of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Eurasian integration
and relations with compatriots, told journalists. "They can influence
nothing and have nothing to do with the reality."
He said it is obvious Ukraine’s parliament passes such
statements at the suggestion of "Western patrons."
"I am sure such statements are written not in Kiev.
I would repeat it once again that the present-day Ukraine is a territory of
external management and many decision, especially those of the anti-Russian
nature, are taken at the suggestion of Western patrons," Slutsky said.
"And naturally, today’s calls of the Verkhovna Rada,
like many of its statements of the past two years, are beyond all international
law norms," he added.
Elections to the State Duma, or Russia’s lower house of
Parliament, were held on September 18 in a split system: 225 members of
parliament were elected by party tickets, while the other 225 were elected in
one-seat constituencies. With 99.38% of ballots counted, Russia’s ruling United
Russia party is winning 54.18% of the vote. It is followed by the Communist
Party of the Russian Federation, of CPRF, with 13.35% of vote, LDPR (13.16%),
and A Just Russia (6.21%).
Source: ITAR-TASS 21-09-2016
