Vladimir Putin’s election as president was officially confirmed yesterday, and his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, formally became a pensioner.
Russia’s Central Election Commission ignored Communist Party charges of fraud in certifying the results of the March 26 presidential vote.
The commission said final tallying of the 75.1 million ballots showed Putin had won the election with 52.94 percent, compared with Communist Gennady Zyuganov’s 29.21.
More than 1.4 million Russians cast their ballots for “against all,” meaning they were opposed to each of the 11 candidates.
Also yesterday, the head of the Russian Pension Foundation handed a smiling Yeltsin his pensioner’s card and promised that he’d receive his monthly payment on time – something Yeltsin, now 69, had been unable to promise his countrymen in eight years as president.
Yeltsin’s administration was blamed for chronic delays in sending out pension checks, which now average only about $17.50 a month.
Yeltsin’s pension is much better.
Soon after he resigned on New Year’s Eve, Putin guaranteed him a pension of 75 percent of his presidential salary, a government-paid staff and the use of a dacha, or country home.