Election season

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has set December 4 as the date for elections for the State Duma, the lower house of parliament. This marks the start of the political season that will culminate with the presidential election in March.

"What we definitely need to eliminate during the campaign are the attempts to incite ethnic hatred. This is categorically unacceptable," Medvedev told the leaders of seven political parties when he announced the election date on Monday.

"I would very much want the makeup of our future Duma to reflect the political preferences of the widest circle of our citizens, the variety of their opinions and interest," he said in televised remarks.

In the last parliamentary polls in 2007, the United Russia Party, headed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, won 315 out of 450 seats in the Duma which has become mostly a rubber stamp for Kremlin and other decisions.

The three other parties with seats in the Duma - the Communists, the nationalistic Liberal Democratic Party and the populist Just Russia - offer little real opposition and support most Kremlin proposals. Opposition parties that did pose a threat were squeezed out.

Lack of real opposition

Given the lack of real opposition, the United Russia Party is expected to maintain its dominance in the Duma.

On June 26, a coalition of liberal opposition parties in Russia was denied registration for the upcoming polls when the Justice Ministry refused to register The People's Freedom Party, or Parnas. The umbrella group was an effort by Russia's fractured opposition to form a united front against the Kremlin.

Parnas now has little chance of mounting a serious challenge to the Kremlin this December or in next year's presidential ballot.

One party expected to take part in the elections for the first time is the pro-business Right Cause Party The party's billionaire leader, Mikhail Prokhorov, is one of Russia's richest men. Right Cause is seen as a Kremlin-friendly party that critics say is designed to build an illusion to pro-business voters that the elections amount to a genuine competition.

Parties must secure at least 5 percent of the vote to win seats in the State Duma. The Right Cause party could achieve this, but the hurdle is likely to be too high for the liberal Yabloko, a party launched in the 1990s.

Of greater interest to many observers are the presidential elections and a possible power struggle between Medvedev and his former mentor, Putin. It's not known whether Medvedev will start for a second term, or if Putin will stand for a new mandate. Putin served two terms as Russian president from 2000 to 2008.

Both Medvedev and Putin have said they will not stand against each other.

Author: Wilhelmina Lyffyt (AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Martin Kuebler