| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Federalnoye Sobraniye / Federal Assembly |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name (generic / translated) |
Gossoudarstvennaya Duma / State Duma |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Soviet Federatsii / Council of the Federation
|
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
2 December 2007 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the seats of the State Duma on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
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. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 2 December 2007 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
109'145'517
69'537'065 (63.71%)
759'929
68'777'136 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| United Russia |
|
44'714'241 |
|
|
64.30 |
|
|
| Communist Party (KPRF) |
|
8'046'886 |
|
|
11.57 |
|
|
| Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) |
|
5'660'823 |
|
|
8.14 |
|
|
| A Just Russia |
|
5'383'639 |
|
|
7.74 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| United Russia |
315
|
|
|
|
|
| Communist Party (KPRF) |
57
|
|
|
|
|
| Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) |
40
|
|
|
|
|
| A Just Russia |
38
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
387
63
14.00%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Sources:
- http://www.cikrf.ru/eng/
- IPU Group (28.02.2008) |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
