United Russia could lose super-majority in parliament

The upcoming parliamentary elections in Russia could see the ruling United Russia party lose its two-thirds majority in the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, a Russian pollster said on Wednesday. United Russia currently has 315 seats in the 450-seat Duma, enough to approve constitutional amendments on its own. But the latest polling figures suggest it will lose seats to the other three parties in December 4 elections, Valery Fedorov, director general of leading Russian polling agency VTsIOM, said on Wednesday. United Russia could see its total shrink to 269 seats, while the Communist Party (KPRF) would increase its representation to 85 seats (from 57 currently), the Liberal-Democratic Party (LDPR) to 56 (from 40) and A Just Russia to 40 (from 38), Fedorov said, citing the results of a survey conducted in early October. “United Russia currently scores 53.8 percent of the votes, KPRF – 17.1 percent, LDPR – 11.3 percent and A Just Russia – 7.9 percent,” Fedorov said, adding that voter turnout is expected at 56 percent. “United Russia\'s results are not as good as in 2007. In my view, the main reason is that the 2007 campaign was held during an economic upswing and the current one comes in the post-crisis period,” Fedorov added. VTsIOM surveyed 1,600 people in 138 Russian cities and towns in 46 regions on October 1-2. The margin of error is 3.4%.