By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russians went to the polls Sunday amid tight security to elect 450 members to a new State Duma or the lower house of parliament, the fifth in post-Soviet history of the country.
Opinion polls have predicted that the United Russia, the pro-Kremlin party with President Vladimir Putin as its No. 1 candidate, will gain a clear majority in the elections.
The Public Opinion Fund said 63 percent of the electorate planned to back the “party of power”.
The only other parties expected to overcome the seven percent threshold required to enter parliament are the Communist Party, the ultra nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, and A Just Russia, led by Kremlin loyalists. Eleven parties are in the fray.
The president’s decision to top United Russia’s party list has given a major boost to it. Putin, who has overseen eight years of rapid economic growth and the re-emergence of Russia as a key player on the world stage, retains high popularity ratings among the core electorate.
However, the run-up to the Duma elections was marred by a dispute with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), after its main election monitoring arm refused to dispatch observers for the polls, citing restrictions and visa delays. Moscow in turn criticised “chaos” in the organisation and reiterated calls for its reform.
The arrest and five-day detention of opposition leader former world chess champion Garry Kasparov last Sunday also sparked controversy. The grandmaster was arrested while leading a march of The Other Russia, an umbrella group of anti-Putin parties, for reportedly flouting law and order.
Putin has urged Russians to vote for his party to ensure the continuity of his policies aimed at stability, order and sustainable economic growth.
In a speech to thousands of supporters at the capital’s main sports stadium Nov 21, he slammed Western-leaning opposition groups for attempting to restore an “oligarchic regime based on corruption and lies,” in reference to the turbulent 1990s, when a small elite amassed vast wealth at the expense of millions.
The new State Duma is set to meet for its first session Dec 25-28.