Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Full results from Russia’s first parliamentary election since the start of the war in Ukraine showed that the Kremlin has further tightened its political control of the country. The main pro-Kremlin party, United Russia, will hold more than three-fourths of the 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament.
The three-day vote, held from September 18 to 20, was the first parliamentary election since President Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It was also the first to include residents of four Ukrainian regions seized and later annexed by Moscow that year, as well as Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. Kyiv called the voting in those regions illegal.
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According to results released by the Central Election Commission, United Russia won 349 seats. Election commission chief Ella Pamfilova said the party secured 58 per cent of the vote for the 225 seats distributed by party lists and also won 209 single-seat contests that make up the rest of the chamber. Several smaller parties seen as part of the “systemic opposition”, and which back the Kremlin on key issues, won 97 seats, while four more seats went to regional officials who contested without party affiliation.
Virtually all genuine opposition parties and candidates were kept out of the election. State media heavily backed the authorities, and the voting process remained under tight control. The liberal Yabloko party, the only registered political party that openly criticised the war, was removed from the ballot by Russia’s Supreme Court last month. It had fielded only a few dozen candidates in single-seat races, and none won a seat. Before the campaign, some anti-war politicians were jailed or forced to leave the country. Russia also did not invite observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Nearly 60 per cent of the 111 million eligible voters cast their ballots, the highest turnout in a parliamentary election in more than a decade. The authorities spread polling over three days and allowed online voting in some regions to raise participation. On Wednesday, Putin said the results showed public support for his policies. Pamfilova also said 46 veterans of the Ukraine war had been elected, including 41 from United Russia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “The experience of our heroes is in demand; the voting results have clearly confirmed this,” and added, “They will make a maximum contribution to the shaping of various initiatives.”
The election took place amid repeated Ukrainian drone strikes. Officials said air defences shot down more than 1,100 Ukrainian drones during the voting period, including 450 headed towards Moscow on the final day in what Mayor Sergei Sobyanin called “the largest ever” attack on the capital. Officials said the strike damaged an oil refinery and a residential building, and killed three people and injured 38 in the wider Moscow region. Pamfilova said six poll workers were killed in Ukrainian attacks and 75 polling stations were damaged or destroyed by shelling.
As the election commission released the final results, Russian media reported that independent political analyst Alexander Kynev, who had closely tracked the campaign, had been arrested on drug charges, which he denied. If convicted, he could face 10 to 20 years in prison. Earlier this year, the Justice Ministry had labelled him a “foreign agent”, a term that brings added official scrutiny. The first sitting of the newly elected State Duma has been fixed for Wednesday, and Russian media said speaker Vyacheslav Volodin is expected to keep his post. The results underlined the scale of United Russia’s win and the broader tightening of political control during wartime.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
