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Putin’s United Russia Leads by 49 Points
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - United Russia (YR) has no real rivals in the country’s political scene, according to a poll by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center. 55 per cent of respondents would vote for the pro-government party in this year’s legislative election, up one point since early October.
The Communist Party (KPRF) is a distant second with six per cent, followed by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) with four per cent, and the opposition movement A Just Russia also with four per cent.
Vladimir Putin was elected to a second term as president in March 2004 with 71.31 per cent of all cast ballots. In April 2005, Putin ruled out seeking a new mandate, saying, "I will not change the constitution and in line with the constitution, you cannot run for president three times in a row." The next presidential election is tentatively scheduled for March 2008.
The next election to the State Duma is scheduled for Dec. 2. For the first time, all 450 lawmakers will be chosen through party-list proportional representation, with a seven per cent threshold. In the 2003 election, only four political parties—United Russia, the KPRF, the LDPR and the Motherland - National Patriotic Union (MDRT)—received more than seven per cent of the vote.
On Oct. 1, Putin accepted an offer to lead the United Russia list in the election to the State Duma, and called the possibility of becoming prime minister "entirely realistic."
Russia’s Central Election Committee (CEC) has refused so far to extend invitations for foreign observers to monitor the December election. On Oct. 23, the government said it might invite some groups, adding it will send out the requests closer to election day. Urdur Gunnarsdottir, spokeswoman for the Poland-based Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), said the Russian government’s attitude "makes our work difficult", adding, "It’s worrying for us that the state has not been forthcoming with an invitation."
Polling Data
Which party would you vote for in the election to the State Duma?
|
Oct. 21 |
Oct. 7 |
Sept. 23 |
|
|
United Russia (YR) |
55% |
54% |
47% |
|
Communist Party (KPRF) |
6% |
6% |
7% |
|
Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) |
4% |
5% |
5% |
|
A Just Russia |
4% |
3% |
6% |
Source: All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center
Methodology: Interviews with 1,600 Russian adults, conducted on Oct. 20 and Oct. 21, 2007. Margin of error is 3.4 per cent.