The Dec 7 Russian parliamentary elections dramatically demonstrated the failure of the smaller, non-centrist and opposition parties to make an impression on its country´s politics. According to a preliminary report, the leading ´Edinstvo´ party, advertising itself as ´acting together with the President´ took 36,8% of the votes. Only three other parties (no Rights-wings among them) surpassed the 5% level required to enter the new parliament. The analysts say the Duma is likely to be not just pro-presidential, but purely ´presidential´. (08-DEC-03)
Out of the Russian population´s total of 145.7 million, approximately 47.6 % made use of their right to vote. With a choice of 23 different parties, most gave their vote to the entities and leaders directly or indirectly affiliated with President Vladimir Putin. The second ´political project´ of the Kremlin – the ´Rodina´ (Fatherland) party – gained 9,0 %. LDPR, the Liberal Democratic Party, will be the third biggest fraction in the new parliament with 11,8 % of the votes. At the moment, LDPR is also fairly close to the centre of the Russian political spectrum.
Left- and right-side parties and MPs will be the new minorities of the Duma. Only 12,7 % voted for the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, for instance. Even the fact that Communists saved the second position in the Duma will not affect the new parliamentary composition. The right-wing parties Union of Right Forces (SPS) and ´Yabloko´ failed to exceed the 5 % level and will be represented in the Duma only through individual delegates.
According to national observation reports, no serious violations and disproportional use of so called ´administrative resource´ were observed during the elections. Nevertheless, political analysts describe the elections as a ´replacement of political diversity with administrative or bureaucratic diversity´ and also as a ´reflection of the Russian´s willingness to be led by the iron hand´. Seen from a human rights point of view, the decrease in right-wing delegates represents no loss, since other delegates are known to be stronger supporters of democracy and human rights.
