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HomeUncategorizedOnce again, President Putin’s party scores crushing win in Russia parliament vote

Once again, President Putin’s party scores crushing win in Russia parliament vote

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Russia’s ruling United Russia party has won a record number of seats in parliamentary polls that could pave the way for President Vladimir Putin to glide to a fourth term in 2018 elections.

With more than 98.3 per cent of the ballots counted, United Russia had garnered 54.2 per cent of the votes for parties, giving it a constitutional majority in parliament, according to results announced on Monday morning.

Sunday’s ballot for the 450-seat State Duma was smooth sailing for the authorities, with no sign of the mass protests following the last vote, though a historic low turnout could become problematic as Russia faces the longest economic crisis of Putin’s rule.

The Kremlin attributed the result to Putin’s popularity.

“It’s obvious that the overwhelming majority of those who voted de facto voiced support for the president,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.

“Once more, we see the president gain an impressive vote of confidence from the people.”

The vote comes as Putin’s ratings remain high at around 80 per cent, and the authorities appear to be banking on trouble-free presidential elections in two years’ time.

Three other parties — which made up the last parliament and all back the Kremlin — were the only ones to clear the five percent threshold needed to claim a share of the one-half of seats up for grabs.

The Communists and the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party won 13.36 per cent and 13.18 per cent respectively, while A Just Russia received 6.2 per cent.

The other half of the deputies are elected on a constituency basis after a change to the election law.

This gives United Russia a total of more than three-quarters of the vote and at least 343 seats in the 450-member parliament, up from 238 previously, and a record for the party.

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