| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Federalnoye Sobraniye / Federal Assembly |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name (generic / translated) |
Gossoudarstvennaya Duma / State Duma |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Soviet Federatsii / Council of the Federation
|
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
4 December 2011 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the seats of the State Duma on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
On 29 August 2011, President Dmitry Medvedev called parliamentary elections for 4 December. At stake were 450 seats in the State Duma. Following constitutional amendments that came into force in December 2008, the State Duma elected in 2011 will serve five years instead of the previous four-year term.
Although the State Duma voted to lower the threshold for parties to win parliamentary representation from 7 to 5 per cent in July 2011, the revised electoral law will come into force only on 1 January 2013. The new threshold will thus be applied starting from the 2016 parliamentary elections.
Seven parties fielded candidates in 2011. President Medvedev topped the United Russia list although he, like Prime Minister Putin, is not a party member, as is permitted by the law. Its main rival was the Communist Party (KPRF) led by Mr. Gennadiy Zyuganov.
The United Russia party focused on modernization and economic development through a strong role for the State. It promised to lead an independent foreign policy.
The KPRF pledged to work for the nationalization of key industries and to provide a comprehensive social welfare network. Its programme included economic diversification to reduce dependency on oil revenues and constitutional reform to devolve power to workers' councils.
"A Just Russia", led by the former Speaker of the Council of the Federation, Mr. Sergey Mironov, pledged to promote social justice, order and stability.
The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) of Mr. Vladimir Zhirinovskiy - the Deputy Speaker of the State Duma - campaigned on a platform of nationalism and economic autonomy.
On 4 December, 60.10 per cent of the 109 million registered voters turned out at the polls.
According to the official results, United Russia remained the largest party with 238 seats but failed to retain a two-thirds majority. The KPRF increased its share to 90 seats. "A Just Russia" and the LDPR took 64 and 56 seats each. In all, 61 women were elected.
Opposition parties alleged that the elections had been rigged. KPRF leader Zyuganov claimed that United Russia gave itself an additional 12 to 14 per cent of the votes. Both the President and the Prime Minister rejected these allegations. The KPRF pledged to defend its votes in court. Most parties, including the KPRF and United Russia, subsequently filed electoral petitions with the competent courts.
On 10 December, over 50,000 people demonstrated in Moscow, demanding the cancellation of the election results, the resignation of the head of the election commission and an official investigation into the alleged fraud. These demonstrations, which were also held across 130 cities in Russia, were the first of their kind in nearly 20 years. Approximately 1,000 persons were reportedly arrested.
On 14 December, outgoing Speaker Boris Gryzlov (United Russia), who was elected to the new legislature, announced that he would not take up his parliamentary seat, stating that it would be "wrong to occupy the post of Speaker for more than two terms". President Medvedev also declined to take up his parliamentary seat.
On 21 December, the newly elected State Duma held its first session and elected Mr. Sergey Naryshkin (United Russia) as its new Speaker. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 4 December 2011 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
109'237'780
65'656'526 (60.1%)
1'033'464
64'623'062 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| United Russia |
|
32'379'135 |
|
|
50.10 |
|
|
| Communist Party (KPRF) |
|
12'599'507 |
|
|
19.50 |
|
|
| A Just Russia |
|
8'695'522 |
|
|
13.46 |
|
|
| Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) |
|
7'664'570 |
|
|
11.86 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
Number of women |
|
|
|
| United Russia |
238
|
42 |
|
|
|
| Communist Party (KPRF) |
92
|
4 |
|
|
|
| A Just Russia |
64
|
11 |
|
|
|
| Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) |
56
|
4 |
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
389
61
13.56%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Sources:
State Duma (16.01.2011)
http://www.vybory.izbirkom.ru
http://www.cikrf.ru/eng/
http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/russia-duma-draws-from-politburo-and-playboy-121.cfm
BBC Monitoring |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
