Russian legislative "elections", 2007

[Tender Branson]

Gorbachev sets up Russia movement



The leader of the former Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, has founded a new political movement in Russia.

Mr Gorbachev told the founding congress of the Union of Social-Democrats that its mission was to fight against "negative tendencies" and corruption.

He said it supported President Vladimir Putin's efforts to reform Russia.

The new movement will not take part in general elections in December, which are expected to be won by the United Russia party, backed by Mr Putin.

"We are fighting for power, but only for power over people's minds," Mr Gorbachev told the 200 delegates gathered in Moscow.

Among the issues the movement would focus on, he said, were lack of real political debate, pressure being put on non-governmental groups and high levels of corruption.

A statement said that "the potential for free democratic choice and political competition is being limited... This is why social-democrats are uniting to fight for the values of freedom and fairness."

The congress elected the 76-year-old as the movement's leader unopposed.

Mr Gorbachev's far-reaching reforms of the Soviet system accelerated the collapse of communism in the 1980s.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7054274.stm

[Tender Branson]

Support for Putin’s United Russia Spikes

The decision of Russian president Vladimir Putin to lead United Russia (YR) into the next legislative election has given clear momentum to the party, according to a poll by the Yury Levada Analytical Center. 68 per cent of respondents would vote for the pro-Kremlin party in this year’s ballot, up 14 points since July.

The Communist Party (KPRF) is a distant second with 15 per cent, followed by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) with six per cent, A Just Russia with five per cent, and both Yabloko (Liberal) and the Union of Right Forces (SPS) with one per cent.

Source: Yury Levada Analytical Center - Methodology: Interviews with 1,600 Russian adults, conducted from Oct. 5 to Oct. 10, 2007. No margin of error was provided.

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/28682/support_for_putins_united_russia_spikes/

[Tender Branson]

As of 4 p.m. Moscow time, turnout nationwide was 42.5 percent, up from 35.8 percent at the same time in the 2003 parliamentary election, Central Elections Commission Deputy Chairman Stanislav Vavilov said in comments broadcast on state television.

Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. First exit polls will be published at 9 p.m. Moscow time, after polls close in Russia's most westerly district, Kaliningrad, which is one hour behind Moscow. The Central Elections Commission says the vote should be mostly counted by 10 a.m. Moscow time tomorrow.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aXXbR_deDxuY&refer=home

[Tender Branson]

I predict UR wins with 62% of the vote.

It seems that I´m becoming more accurate in prediciting European Election Results ...

Results as of 7am Moscow Time with 85% of the vote in:

All-Russian Political Party “United Russia”: 63,2 %
Political Party “Communist Party of the Russian Federation”: 11,7 %
Political Party “Liberal- Democratic party”: 8,4 %
Political Party Fair Russia: Motherland, Pensioners, Life: 8,0 %
Political Party “Agrarian Party of Russia”: 2,4 %
Political Party “Russian United Democratic Party ’YABLOKO’”: 1,6 %
Political Party “UNION OF RIGHTIST FORCES”: 1,1 %
All-Russia Political Party “Civil Force”: 1,0 %
“PATRIOTS OF RUSSIA”: 0,9 %
Political Party “Party of Social Justice”: 0,2 %
Democratic Party of Russia: 0,1 %

Political Party “Agrarian Party of Russia”: 1 358 263
All-Russia Political Party “Civil Force”: 624 659
Democratic Party of Russia: 72 923
Political Party “Communist Party of the Russian Federation”: 6 638 966
Political Party “UNION OF RIGHTIST FORCES”: 562 501
Political Party “Party of Social Justice”: 127 072
Political Party “Liberal- Democratic party”: 4 767 810
Political Party Fair Russia: Motherland, Pensioners, Life: 4 538 340
“PATRIOTS OF RUSSIA”: 511 878
All-Russian Political Party “United Russia”: 36 049 391
Political Party “Russian United Democratic Party ’YABLOKO’”: 930 011

http://cikrf.ru/eng/elect_duma/results/index.jsp