The United Russia Party won the Election to the Russian State Duma, but the 2024 presidential election is still in suspense

As a major event in the political life of the Russian state this year, the dust has settled on the election of the Eighth Russian State Duma.

Pamfilova, chairman of Russia's Central Election Commission ("CENTRAL ELECTION COMMISSION"), said at a press conference on September 20 that according to preliminary statistics, five political parties have entered the Russian State Duma (the lower house of parliament), and the ruling party United Russia (United Russia Party) has won a significant lead in the number of seats.

Experts believe that this result shows that Russians still have confidence in the leadership of Putin's ruling party, United Russia. At present, the United Russia Party is leading, which may play a positive role in Russia's stable development and will also lay the foundation for the smooth holding of the Russian presidential election in 2024.

On September 17, 2021, local time, Moscow, Russia, the election of the eighth Russian State Duma (the lower house of parliament) began to vote. Due to the self-isolation, Russian President Putin completed the vote through the Internet on the same day. Figure/IC photo

The United Russia Party has taken a sharp lead, and the new party has become a bright spot

The Parliament of the Russian Federation is bicameral, with the upper house of parliament called the Federation Council and the lower house called the State Duma. The State Duma is a permanent legislature of Russia, which is mainly responsible for drafting and formulating state laws, deliberating on the appointment of the prime minister of the government and deciding on the issue of confidence in the president.

The elections, held from 17 to 19 September, were held on a mixed electoral system, in which half of the total 450 seats were elected on a proportional representation basis for political parties, while the other half were elected in single-seat constituencies, i.e. 225 constituencies throughout Russia, each electing one member of parliament. The threshold for political parties to enter the State Duma is 5 per cent.

According to the Russian News Agency reported on September 21, the vote counting results released by the Russian Central Election Commission showed that the United Russia Party, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Liberal Democratic Party, the Just Russia-Patriots for truth and the New Party all crossed the 5% vote threshold and obtained the qualification for entering the Russian State Duma, with 49.82%, 18.93%, 7.55%, 7.46% and 5.32% of the votes respectively. This is the first time in nearly 18 years that five political parties have entered the Russian State Duma.

During a meeting with Russian Election Commission Chairman Pamphilova on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked voters for their trust.

Jiang Yi, an expert on Russia at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with the Beijing News that although there have been some changes compared with previous polls, the United Russia Party has maintained a majority of more than two-thirds of the seats in this election, indicating that it has an irreplaceable role in Russian politics.

From the perspective of voter turnout, the voters' enthusiasm for voting in this election has been burned out, because in the current Political Ecology of Russia, voters have limited influence on Russian political life, which has affected the enthusiasm for voting to a certain extent.

Judging from the seats, before the election, Russian public opinion believed that the United Russia Party would still maintain the status of the largest party in the parliament, but it remained to be seen whether it could continue the majority of more than two-thirds of the seats in the previous election.

However, according to the preliminary results of the vote, the United Russia Party won the election to the Russian State Duma, winning more than the 300 seats determined by the "constitutional majority", maintaining its leading position.

It is worth noting that for the first time, the "New Party" crossed the 5% vote threshold and entered the Russian State Duma, which was regarded by Deutsche Welle as a party supporting Putin.

Jiang Yi believes that the Newcomer Party can be said to be a bright spot in this election. Unlike previous elections, voters sent the New Party to the Duma, to some extent reflecting the mentality of some voters who want a change in Russia's political ecology, hoping that they will inject fresh blood into the legislative work and play a role in the legislature in the future.

The 2024 presidential election is in suspense

The State Duma election was known as the bellwether of the Russian presidential election. This year's Duma election is a major political agenda in Russia and the most important election before the 2024 presidential election.

Agence France-Presse reported that due to years of economic problems that led to a decline in living standards, the state Duma elections, and the support of the United Russia Party has declined.

In the period leading up to the election, Putin interacted frequently with the United Russia Party, which aroused concern. In late June, Putin nominated Russian Defense Minister Shoigu and Foreign Minister Lavrov to lead the United Russia Party in the national Duma election. At the congress of the United Russia Party in late August, Putin made a series of policy commitments: subsidies to retirees and military personnel, additional allocations to wildfire areas, and no military intervention in Afghanistan.

In the eyes of most Russians, Putin is still a symbol of national unity and a guarantee of stability. France's Channel 24 reported that some voters voted for the United Russia Party because they trusted Putin.

Now that the results of the elections in the State Duma have been announced, the United Russia Party still maintains its leading position. Jiang Yi pointed out that in the future, the United Russia Party will continue to face economic, people's livelihood and anti-epidemic challenges, and if the entire political situation can be controlled, the United Russia Party will further consolidate its position.

Jiang Yi believes that if Putin runs for president in 2024, the current stable position of the United Russia Party is beneficial to him.

The Russian side said that the Election to the State Duma was interfered with by external forces

The election process in the Russian Duma was not smooth, and the Russian side said that the election was interfered with by external forces.

According to the news of the Russian Satellite Network on September 21, the Russian Embassy in the United States said that the number of cyber attacks suffered by the Russian side during the national Duma election was unprecedented, half of which came from the United States, and the Russian side is waiting for the United States to give a detailed explanation in this regard.

Reuters reported on September 17 that the "smart voting" app created by the team of Russian opposition figure Navalny was sponsored by the US company. It is reported that "smart voting" focuses on attacking the candidates of the United Russia Party. It uses big data to gather information to recommend to registered voters "which candidates are most likely to defeat The United Russia candidates." At present, the Russian government has asked Google and Apple to remove the "smart voting" app; the "smart voting" website has been blocked.

On September 20, the U.S. State Department accused russia of the State Duma's electoral process as "unfree and opaque." In this regard, the statement of the Russian Embassy in the United States pointed out that the election of the Russian State Duma fully complied with the norms of Russian internal law and international law, and the SLANDER of the election by the United States was not allowed and groundless.

According to the website of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on September 20, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian answered reporters' questions on the preliminary results of the election in the Russian State Duma. Zhao Lijian said that the election of the State Duma is a major event in the political life of the Russian state, and the election results reflect the will of the Russian people. As a comprehensive strategic partnership partner, China will, as always, firmly support the Russian people in independently choosing the path of development, and firmly support Russia in continuously making new achievements under the leadership of President Putin and achieving development and rejuvenation.

Beijing News reporter Zhu Yuehong

Edited by Zhang Lei, Proofreader Li Lijun