Reuters: Exit polls give Medvedev big win 04 March

On March 2nd, Russians will vote for President Vladimir Putin's successor. There's not much of an election campaign, little debate and voters appear indifferent. The reason: everyone already knows the result. Kremlin favourite Dmitry Medvedev is expected to pick up some 80 percent of votes cast because a vote for him is seen as a vote for the hugely popular Putin. An AFPTV report from Novosibirsk, Russia's third-largest city.

Dmitry Medvedev Iis swept to power in the first round of Russia's presidential election, with 70 percent of votes, according to official results announced Monday. Vladimir Putin will cede him his office, but not all its power, as Medvedev has pledged to appoint him prime minister.

Medvedev, 42, who will be the youngest Russian leader since Tsar Nicholas II when he is sworn in on May 7, has asked former President Putin to be his prime minister. Putin, 55, was prevented by term limits from running for re-election. The Election Commission said voter turnout neared 70 percent.

The vote is widely expected to produce a landslide win for Dmitry Medvedev but it is also certain to further dent Moscow's already-tarnished democratic image.

Dmitry Medvedev officially took over as Russia's president on Wednesday at a grand Kremlin ceremony that launched an era of joint rule with his mentor -- and now prime minister -- Vladimir Putin.

Dmitry Medvedev swept to power in the first round of Russia's presidential election, with 70 percent of votes, according to an official count announced Monday. Vladimir Putin will cede him the office but not all power, as Medvedev has pledged to appoint him as prime minister and continue to collaborate closely.

Polling stations in the Far East opened at 2000 GMT Saturday, in a vote pitting Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev against three challengers. Two thirds of Russia's 109 registered voters are expected to back Putin's chosen successor in the country's most predictable poll since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Nicolas Sarkozy's right-wing party suffered losses in French local elections Sunday, poll projections showed, in what the opposition Socialists called a "punishment vote" for the reforming president. The vote, the first major test of Sarkozy's popularity since he defeated the Socialist Segelone Royal last May, was seen as a referendum on the achievements of the president whose opinion poll ratings have plummeted. But Prime Minister Francois Fillon said it was impossible to draw national lessons from the local elections and the pace of Sarkozy's reforms would continue unabated. Soundbites from AFPTV.

President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party was expected to win a majority of up to 65 percent of votes, a show of public support which Putin hopes to use as a mandate to retain influence after his second presidential term ends next year. The former World chess champion and arch Kremlin critic, Garry Kasparov accused the Russian authorities of "raping the whole electoral system." The Kremlin called the vote democratic and transparent.

Tension reached boiling point when Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) results showed opposition leader Raila Odinga just ahead of President Mwai Kibaki with about a fifth of results left to come in. Later the opposition was just 38,000 votes ahead of the president with 86 percent of official constituency results in.