Translated material
Bulls and bears
The Russian parliament will be similar in composition to the Krasnoyarsk parliament
The first elections to the parliament of the united Krasnoyarsk Territory , which before unification with Taimyr and Evenkia usually gave results that more or less adequately reflected the mood of the electorate throughout the country, showed that United Russia can hardly count on a constitutional majority in the new Duma, A Just Russia "will have to endure a serious struggle for second place with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, and the Union of Right Forces has some chances to overcome the seven percent barrier in the Duma elections in December 2007.According to preliminary data, on Sunday, as expected, United Russia won the elections to the legislative assembly of the united Krasnoyarsk Territory. After a series of pre-election scandals, the Union of Right Forces, traditionally not very popular in the region, still gained more than 7% of the votes. And still popular in the region, businessman Anatoly Bykov, the former owner of the Krasnoyarsk aluminum plant, who was not allowed to register his bloc in the elections, entered parliament as an independent candidate in a single-mandate constituency.
Chairman of the temporary regional election commission Konstantin Bocharov said yesterday that United Russia won 42.5% and will take 29 out of 52 seats in the new legislative assembly (12 on party lists and 17 thanks to single-mandate seats). Almost all large local businesses were represented on the United Russia list, which to a certain extent indicates the positive result of the unification of economic elites by Governor Alexander Khloponin. The United Russia list includes representatives of Norilsk Nickel, SUEK, RUSAL, and Krasnoyarsk-Gazprom. True, not fully trusting United Russia, some corporations simultaneously supported “friendly” candidates from other lists.
The second place is confidently occupied by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation - 20.3% (six mandates on party lists plus two from single-mandate constituencies), the third is A Just Russia (12.4%), which will receive three mandates on party lists plus four from single-mandate constituencies. In fourth and fifth places are the LDPR and the Union of Right Forces - 11.75% (three mandates) and 7.25% (two mandates). Voter turnout was 37.2%.
Only seven parties competed for seats in the regional parliament; the Socialist United Party of Russia and the Democratic Party of Russia did not overcome the five percent threshold required to enter the legislative assembly. Compared to the election campaign, which was in the end animated by scandals and criminal cases, the voting itself, according to official information, took place without any special incidents. According to the regional election commission, as of 8 pm on Sunday, not a single written statement about violations had been submitted. But several dozen telephone complaints were received by the hotline of the Russian Foundation for Free Elections and the regional election commission. At the same time, almost 8 thousand ballot papers were declared invalid.
According to analysts, the growth of the SPS rating , in particular, is associated with the absence of the “against all” column and the active use of the leftist agenda. Independent Election Institute expert Alexander Kynev explained to Vremya Novostey that the result obtained by the Union of Right Forces on April 15 can be considered a success: “Given that the region is “free-thinking,” with the exception of voting in the 1997 federal elections, the right-wingers in the region have nothing to boast about. From the point of view of the electoral potential of the region, the percentages gained are a success. The general organization of the Union of Right Forces, a more social agenda, a high degree of coverage of rural outbacks by agitators - these are objective things that contribute to success. The scandalous events of recent weeks have drawn attention to the party. The persecution of the Union of Right Forces was organized rather mediocrely; it was obvious that the party was a victim, not an organizer, and this gave the Union of Right Forces the protest features it needed so much.” True, SPS leader Nikita Belykh said yesterday that he was not satisfied with the preliminary results of the elections to the legislative assembly of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. He expected the right to gain up to 10%.
Let us recall that three days before the elections, the Krasnoyarsk prosecutor's office opened a criminal case against representatives of the Union of Right Forces party, accusing them of obstructing the free exercise of their voting rights by citizens, coupled with bribery and deception of voters. A criminal case was opened against the Union of Right Forces based on the results of an inspection by the Krasnoyarsk City Internal Affairs Directorate of applications from citizens and parties. After the start of this check, the Krasnoyarsk branches of the Union of Right Forces and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation abandoned the agreement on fair elections signed on April 2.
The leader of the A Just Russia party, Chairman of the Federation Council Sergei Mironov, this time - and this is very significant - moved away from the usual criticism of United Russia , switching to the communists. He accused the Krasnoyarsk branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation of collaborating with crime. Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov called these accusations “stupidity.” “Mironov has said a lot of stupid things lately, and this is stupidity bordering on vulgarity,” Mr. Zyuganov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
Businessman Anatoly Bykov , who has long consolidated the protest electorate in the region, entered parliament in a single-mandate constituency in Krasnoyarsk as one of the three winning independent deputies. This time, Anatoly Bykov did not head any specific party list, and the list of the Russian Revival Party he supported was not registered. True, candidates loyal to Mr. Bykov still ended up on the list of A Just Russia.
These elections were the first for the new head of the Central Election Commission, Vladimir Churov, who personally controlled their progress and actively traveled to polling stations in the region.