In a tightly controlled electoral environment, Russia’s ruling United Russia party achieved a significant victory in the first parliamentary elections since the onset of the war in Ukraine. The elections featured a ballot with virtually no genuine opposition, raising concerns about the democratic legitimacy of the process. This outcome reflects the Kremlin’s continued influence over the political landscape amidst ongoing conflict.
Yabloko Party Barred from State Duma List Amid Electoral Violations
The liberal Yabloko party has been barred from participating in the State Duma elections after Russia’s Supreme Court ruled against it last month due to alleged electoral rule violations. The party had announced a campaign platform focused on “for peace and freedom.” Despite this setback, some individual Yabloko candidates remain eligible for the single-mandate contests.
United Russia, which campaigned as President Vladimir Putin’s party, has held a majority in the lower house of parliament since 2003. Half of the 450 seats in the State Duma, as the lower chamber of parliament is called, are allocated by party list and the other half are contested in single-member constituencies. The election commission said turnout was 57%, state television reported, exceeding the level of the last election in 2021. The New People, which bills itself as a pragmatic, business-friendly party, is one more party that is also set to clear the 5% threshold to return to the Duma as it got 7.94% of the vote. The left-leaning A Fair Russia was at 4.95% as of 8 a.m. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it downed 1,110 Ukrainian drones across 19 Russian regions as well as Crimea, which the Kremlin annexed in 2014. That was the largest overnight total reported so far this year, surpassing the previous high of 822 in August. United Russia has dominated parliament since Putin came to power and won 324 of 450 seats in 2021. Earlier reporting noted: Russia’s ruling United Russia party, which supports President Vladimir Putin, has taken a strong early lead in the country’s State Duma elections, securing 57.5 per cent of the vote in initial results.
President Vladimir Putin is set to retain his political dominance after the three-day vote saw little opposition, initial figures released Monday by the Central Election Commission show.
Moscow, according to RIA Novosti newswire and it is yet not clear if it will get into the parliament. All parties on the ballot supported Putin over the war — conceived as a “special military operation” lasting days or weeks and offered no criticism of the president’s domestic policies. It is poised to regain the constitutional majority of more than two-thirds of seats that it held in the previous parliament. The final day of the election was marked by one of the heaviest Ukrainian drone attacks since the start of the war.
Earlier reporting noted: Putin maintains grip on Russia as party leads wartime parliamentary elections Russia’s ruling United Russia party has been leading the country’s first parliamentary election since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Earlier reporting noted: The Kremlin was widely expected to retain control of the State Duma.
