Four parties confirmed to enter new Russian parliament

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, December 08, 2003

Four parties confirmed to enter new Russian parliament

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The main pro-Kremlin party of United Russia along with three contestants will enter the new Russian State Duma, or lower house of parliament, according to the latest partial preliminary results announced by the Central Elections Commission (CEC) on Monday.

Alexander Veshnyakov, head of the CEC, congratulated the four parties of United Russia, the Communist Party of Russian Federation (KPRF), the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), and the Rodina (Motherland) bloc on being elected to the Duma after 90.58 percent of ballots in Sunday's parliamentary elections were counted at 10:00 a.m. Moscow time (0700 GMT) Monday.

United Russia, firm supporters of President Vladimir Putin, pulled far ahead of its rivals with 36.8 percent of the popular votes.

The KPRF, the main opposition force to the Kremlin, came at the second place with 12.7 percent followed by the LDPR with 11.8 percent and Rodina with 9 percent.

The parties of Yabloko, Agrarian of Russia and the Union of Right Forces (SPS) may lose the campaign as they have not passed the 5-percent threshold to make them into the chamber.

Based on the current distribution of votes among political parties and blocs, United Russia is expected to win 222 seats in the legislative body, an authorized analyst said earlier.

Dmitry Oreshkin, head of the Mercator group that analyzes the counting of the votes, predicted that the KPRF may get 53 seats as the second largest party in the fourth State Duma since the fall of the Soviet Union, leaving the remaining parties far behind.

Twenty-three parties and political movements are competing for the 450 seats. Under the electoral law, half of the Duma seats are shared on a proportional basis by parties winning at least 5 percent of the popular vote, while the rest 225 are selected in individual constituencies across the country.

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