United Russia, the main party supporting Putin, expanded its grip on parliament, winning three-quarters of the seats, the Central Elections Commission said Monday. The immense gain of more than 100 seats for United Russia, which held a majority in the previous parliament, raises it above the two-thirds majority required to amend the constitution on its own. In contrast to the two previous elections, only half the seats in this election were chosen by national party list; the others were contested by single-seat districts. “These elections were not fair, because there were no equal conditions for those who were allowed to participate,” said Mikhail Kasyanov, a former Russian prime minister who leads the liberal opposition party Parnas. Anger over widespread fraud in the 2011 election sparked large protests in Moscow that unsettled authorities by their size and persistence.

Source: thestar September 19, 2016 21:12 UTC