After the refusal to register the candidate Mikhail Kasyanov for the March presidential poll, the President of the ELDR Party, Annemie Neyts MEP, calls on the National Electoral Commission to evaluate their decision in order to assure democratic elections and, if necessary, a recount and rechecking of invalid signatures. “The Russian election seems to be suffering from a lack of information on both sides”, said the ELDR President, who met the Russian liberal candidate last Thursday during the ELDR Russia Conference in Brussels. “Everybody, government officials and the general public, should consider that political freedom and a democratic system guarantees the right to stand for office and freedom of speech without censorship or intimidation. The EU can only have a real partnership with a democratic and free Russia,” commented Annemie Neyts. ELDR believes that people should have the opportunity to directly question government decisions and that the government should be transparent with its citizens