United Russia, Vladimir Putin’s party leads in Russian parliamentary elections

First modification: 19/09/2021 – 22:05

It is an expected result. According to the first information announced after the closing of the last polling stations, United Russia, the ruling party in Russia led by Vladimir Putin, is leading the vote in the parliamentary elections.

The aim of these elections was to renew the 450 seats of the deputies of the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, which is dominated by United Russia. Local and regional elections were also held.

With 25 percent of the vote counted across the country, the Central Election Commission said United Russia won with 44.26 percent of the vote, allowing the ruling party to retain a majority in the Duma.

The results also show that the Communist Party came in second with almost 25% of the vote, followed by the nationalist LDPR party with about 9%. But both are not considered serious opposition to the ruling party as they tend to support the Kremlin on key issues.

Elections without opposition to President Putin

The opposition to the president was largely excluded from this election, in which some 108 million Russians were called to vote for their legislators.

The election, which began last Friday and ended this Sunday, came after months of repression that ousted President Putin’s opponents.

Critics say the vote was rigged, given the election crackdown by the outlawed opposition party Alexei Navalny, which prevented his allies from running for office and attacked critical media and non-governmental organizations affiliated with non-governmental organizations.

“People have almost no choice, there are few parties. In fact, we can choose between nothing,” Vladimir Sakharov, a businessman who voted in St Petersburg on Saturday, told AFP.

Navalny’s allies, who are serving prison sentences for violating his suspension, which he denies, had encouraged regular voting against United Russia. The plan is to support the candidate who is likely to win the ruling party in some constituencies.

In many cases, they advised voters, albeit reluctantly, to vote for the Communist Party. Authorities had tried to block the campaign, which was launched online.

Despite the victory, a drop in the popularity of Russia’s main party

While these results could represent a resounding victory for the Kremlin party, they are far from the triumph of the last time parliamentary elections were held in 2016, when it received more than 54% of the vote.

United Russia has seen a decline in popularity for a number of reasons, including the economic downturn caused by many Russians, as well as allegations of corruption by Navalny. It may also appear that the campaign of the opposition allies, so that the voters elect the communists, has harmed the ruling party to some extent.

Allegations of irregularities in almost the entire territory

Golos, an independent election observer, said he had recorded a number of irregularities during the voting, including threats against observers and the filling of some ballot boxes. In fact, glaring examples of these irregularities have circulated on social media, with some people being recorded filling ballot boxes with ballots.

The Central Election Commission said it had indeed recorded ballot manipulation in eight constituencies and that the results of these polling stations would be annulled.

Despite losing voters compared to 2016, the Kremlin is likely to use the United Russia victory as a sign of strong and broad support for the president.

Putin has been in power for 22 years as president and prime minister and remains a popular figure with many Russians believing him to have stood up to the West and restored national pride.

Reuters, AFP