Putin signs decree to hold parliamentary elections on Dec 2

Moscow, Sept 2 (UNI) Russian President Vladimir Putin today signed a decree to hold the State Duma, lower house, parliamentary elections on December 2, the Kremlin press service said.

The presidential decree kicked off the official start to the parliamentary election campaign in Russia.

This time, the elections for the fourth State Duma, will be held in accordance with the new election law.

Under the new law, passed earlier this year, all the 450 deputies will be elected on party lists, with the minimum threshold of 7 per cent for political parties.

The law prohibits the formation of election blocs. It has also removed the column "against all candidates" from ballot papers and scrapped the minimum voter turnout requirement.

Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairman Vladimir Churov said the federal budget would allocate about 160 million dollar for parliamentary elections.

Churov also said a total of over 107 million voters had been registered as of July 1, which is 600,000 less than before the previous State Duma elections in 2003.

According to a poll held recently by the All-Russian Centre for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM), only four parties in Russia have the chances of reaching the 7 per cent barrier to be elected to the State Duma.

They include the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, the Communist Party (KPRF), the newly created Just Russia party and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR).

According to the poll, United Russia is expected to receive 57 per cent (257 seats), the Communists 18 per cent (81 seats), Just Russia party 14 per cent (64 seats) and the LDPR about 11 per cent (48 seats).

The liberal Union of Right Forces and the opposition Yabloko party are expected to win only 4.4 per cent and 2.7 per cent, respectively, at the parliamentary elections, the poll said.

UNI