Russian Election Commission Calls Current Presidential Campaign 'Most Proper'

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The current presidential campaign in Russia has become the most properly conducted one yet, as the least number of violations have been registered in its duration, Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) chairwoman Ella Pamfilova said on Friday.

"This [presidential] campaign is the most proper in terms of the basis parameters of an election campaign, with the least number of violations [having been recorded]," Pamfilova said.

Pamfilova underlined that the most important stage of the campaign — campaigning in the media — will begin on Saturday.

"A more liberal period is now coming to an end, during which media were able to cover more freely what they wanted," Pamfilova said, adding that the CEC will thoroughly monitor the free airtime provided to candidates starting on Saturday.

The Russian presidential election is scheduled for March 18, while the campaign started on December 18. Media campaigning is set to end one day prior to the election.

There are eight candidates running for president this year: Sergey Baburin from the All-People's Union party, Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin, head of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia Vladimir Zhirinovsky, incumbent President Vladimir Putin, Civil Initiative party candidate Ksenia Sobchak, Communists of Russia party Chairman Maxim Suraykin, business ombudsman Boris Titov, and co-founder of the Yabloko Party Grigory Yavlinsky.