The pro-Putin party of United Russia grabbed a sweeping lead in the Russian parliamentary elections, which is also seen as a political victory of President Vladimir Putin.  

With 97.87 percent of the ballots counted, United Russia, the steadfast supporter of Putin, collected 37.09 percent of the votes in the nationwide election, far ahead of its rivals vying for the 450-seat State Duma, preliminary results indicated Monday.

The Communist Party of Russian Federation, which is the main opposition to the Kremlin, came as the runner-up by winning 12.7 percent of the votes.

The ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) finished third with 11.6 percent of ballots, followed by the newly-formed patriotic bloc of Rodina (Motherland) with 9.1 percent.

Yabloko, the Union of Right Forces (SPS) and the remaining parties and political blocs failed to enter the legislative body because their votes were beneath the 5-percent vote threshold.

The four winners of the Sunday vote will proportionally share half of the 450 legislative seats, while the rest 225 seats will be filled by individual candidates elected in single-mandate constituencies.

Based on preliminary calculation, the United Russia party may eventually seize 222 seats, making itself the largest party in the new State Duma, the fourth of its kind since the fall of the Soviet Union. The Communist Party can have 53 seats, followed by LDPR with 41 and Rodina 38.

The overwhelming victory of the pro-Putin United Russia will absolutely strengthen the president's position in the new legislature and facilitate his renovation initiatives in the country, especially the market-oriented reform.

Analysts also predicted that the results of the Duma race would secure Putin's likely re-election next March.

The elections marked "another step towards consolidation of democracy in the Russian Federation," Putin said in a televised address at a cabinet meeting Monday afternoon, stressing that the outcome of the elections "reflects the population's real sympathies."

The 22-hour parliamentary elections were firstly kicked off in Russia's Far East at 2000 GMT Saturday and closed at the western most Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad at 1800 GMT Sunday, spanning 11 time zones.

About 55.7 percent of the approximately 109 million eligible voters took part in the parliament polls, lower than the turnout of 64.75 percent in the 1999 Duma election.

About 1,200 observers from 105 international organizations, including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and 48 countries, including the United States, have monitored the election processes across the nation.

The final official results are expected to be announced on Dec.18 and the new State Duma is scheduled to hold the first session on Dec. 27.

(Xinhua News Agency December 9, 2003)