World press on Moscow mayoral elections (September 10, 2013)

37-year-old Alexey Navalny has strengthened his position as the leader of the anti-Kremlin opposition. He was supported by 30 percent of those who voted in the Moscow mayoral elections, El Pais writes.

"The Moscow Electoral Commission published the number of voters several hours late. That is why many people believe that this time was used for ballot-box stuffing so that incumbent mayor Sergey Sobyanin would win in the first round," the article reads.

According to the official results of the election, the incumbent mayor and leader of the ruling United Russia's office in Moscow, Sergey Sobyanin, received 51.37 per cent of all votes, while Navalny was supported by 27.24 per cent of voters.

The author of the article, Pilar Bonet, believes the Russian authorities were trying to gain legitimacy during this elections, but the results seem doubtful anyway.

Navalny's campaign manager Leonid Volkov says he doesn't believe the official results of the elections and calls upon Navalny's supporters to take part in protest rallies.

If there is a second round, Navalny will have a good chance of winning the elections, the author cites co-chair of the opposition People's Freedom Party (that nominated Navalny) Vladimir Ryzhkov as saying.