Observer sees tough verdict on Russia vote

By Conor Sweeney

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The head of the only Western observer mission monitoring Sunday's presidential election in Russia said on Wednesday its assessment would be tough and would criticize a lack of choice.

"Our statement on Monday will not be less tough than the one three weeks ago, because nearly nothing improved," Andreas Gross, the head of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly delegation, told Reuters in an interview.

Gross said earlier this month he was concerned by the limited choice in Russia's election.

President Vladimir Putin's protege, Dmitry Medvedev, is expected to win the election easily, with recent opinion polls estimating his likely support at over 70 percent, around 60 percent more than the three other candidates.

Opponents complain Kremlin dominance of the airwaves and the use of government resources to help Medvedev have left the campaign one-sided. An opposition candidate was disqualified after officials said he forged signatures.

"Although it seems as if the Kremlin would have won even a free election, even a fair election, they did not allow it, that's the real point. Why does a power, who can be sure to stay in power, not really allow a free competition?" Gross said.

"We always say that an election is a process of sometimes several years and several months and elections are much more than election day," Gross said.

"Freedom means you can recognize your position in a candidate's position, you can express your political will and this has been avoided, this has been prevented from happening."

Europe's main election watchdog, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), cancelled plans in early February to monitor the election, citing unacceptable restrictions imposed by Moscow.

It wanted to follow the entire election campaign, but was unable to reach a compromise with Russia on how many days its trained monitors would be allowed in the country.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) parliamentary assembly also said it would not monitor the vote, leaving only the 25 parliamentarians from the Council of Europe to monitor voting.

(Reporting by Conor Sweeney; Editing by Charles Dick)