On 2 December 2007, elections to the State Duma, the Lower Chamber of the Russian Parliament, were held ahead of the country's presidential elections scheduled for March 2008.
The 2007 elections were the first to be held under the pure proportional representation system, replacing the previous mixed system. Under the new system, a party must obtain at least 7 per cent of the votes (up from five per cent) to win representation in the State Duma. The new electoral law also sets stricter criteria for party registration. Although 35 political parties applied to contest the 2007 elections, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) registered only 11. Opposition parties argued that the measures prevented small parties from entering the parliament. President Vladimir Putin insisted the tougher standard stopped extremist parties from running for elections.
In the previous elections held in December 2003, President Putin's United Russia had won 223 seats. It was largely expected to win a comfortable majority in the 2007 elections.
Pre-election polls indicated only a few parties would surpass the 7 per cent threshold. In addition to the presidential United Russia party, they included the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), led by Duma Deputy Speaker, Mr. Vladimir Zhirinovsky; and "A Just Russia", led by Mr. Sergey M. Mironov, Chairman of the Council of the Federation (Upper Chamber). Among the opposition forces, only the Communist Party (KPRF) of Mr. Gennady Zyuganov was expected to fare well. Other opposition parties included the Russian United Democratic Party 'YABLOKO' of economist Mr. Grigory Yavlinsky, and the pro-Western Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS), led by Nikita Belykh and former deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov.
President Putin announced that he would head the United Russia list. Limited by the constitution to two presidential terms, Mr. Putin planned to become prime minister when he left office. Opposition parties feared that Mr. Putin and his allies would transfer some presidential powers to the prime minister so that Mr. Putin could maintain his influence. In mid-November, the SPS appealed to the Supreme Court to cancel President Putin's candidature to the State Duma. On 20 November, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal.
United Russia promised to promote the "Putin Plan", emphasizing the importance of the State's role in economic development and promising to further stabilize the economy. Russia's economy has benefited in recent years from high oil prices and rich natural gas and oil reserves. The LDPR argued that the country should implement an "aggressive" foreign policy to rebuild the "Russian Empire". "A Just Russia" called for stronger national defence, and led an anti-NATO campaign.
The KPRF, which has its stronghold in rural areas, promised to nationalize key industries and use the profits to provide free health care, education and affordable municipal housing as in the Soviet era. The YABLOKO called for "Freedom and Justice". The SPS called for economic and administrative reform, emphasizing the importance of building "a free, democratic, strong and humane State" that would be respected and "not feared".
On 24 November, a YABLOKO candidate died after being shot by an unidentified gunman three days earlier. On the same day, a prominent critic of the government and former chess champion, Mr. Garry Kasparov, was arrested for participating in an unauthorized protest against the decision to bar the opposition electoral coalition, "The Other Russia" from contesting the elections.
A total of 63.78 per cent of the country's 109 million registered voters turned out at the polls. Some 450,000 police officers were deployed to ensure security. Russian citizens in 140 countries were also able to vote. The KPRF alleged election irregularities and vowed to take the matter to court.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) cancelled its plan to monitor the poll, accusing the Russian Government of making tardy visa arrangements for its observers. However, the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe monitored the polls, and concluded that the elections failed to meet the standards of democratic elections. They criticized in particular biased media coverage, which they deemed favoured the ruling party. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Inter-Parliamentary Assembly praised the fact that the elections were "held openly".
According to the official results announced by the Central Electoral Commission, President Putin's United Russia party won 64.3 per cent of the votes, taking 315 seats in the new State Duma. The LDPR and "A Just Russia" won 40 and 38 seats respectively. The KPRF took the remainder. No other parties surpassed the 7 per cent threshold to win a seat.
On 24 December, the newly elected State Duma held its first session and re-elected Mr. Boris V. Gryzlov of United Russia as its Speaker. |
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