Page 5 - RusRPTOct19

2.0 Politics
2.1 Kremlin gets hit in regional elections
On September 8, Russians participated in local elections across the country, electing 16 governors, 13 regional parliaments, 21 city councils, and 3 mayors.
Russia's ruling United Russia party, which backs President Vladimir Putin, has lost one-third of its seats in the Moscow parliament, near-complete data cited by Russian news agencies showed on Monday, in an awkward setback for the Kremlin.
However, the party still retained its majority in the Moscow assembly following Sunday's nationwide local elections, and its candidates for regional governor appeared to have won in St Petersburg and in 15 other parts of the vast country.
United Russia won 25 of the Moscow assembly's 45 seats, final data showed.
In the last Moscow election in 2014, United Russia performed better, winning 28 seats in its own name and a further 10 through independent candidates whom it had backed.
This time round, all of its Moscow candidates rebranded as independents in an apparent effort to distance themselves from their party, whose popularity is at a more than decade-long low.
The Communist Party won 13 seats on Sunday, up from five, at the expense of United Russia, the data showed. The opposition Yabloko Party won four seats, and the Fair Russia Party three.
Turnout in Moscow on Sunday was just under 22%, data showed.
United Russia also suffered a setback in an election for the Khabarovsk region's local parliament in the Far East, winning just two seats.
Moscow:
After a summer of protests, opposition candidates, belonging to the communist party (13), Yabloko (4), and A Just Russia (3), won 20 of 45 single-mandate districts in Moscow.
Several high-profile ‘independent’ candidates, such as the Moscow leader of United Russia, lost their seats.
Turnout was 21.8%, in line with previous years.
Governor races:
In all 16 gubernatorial elections, the Kremlin’s candidates won in the first round.
This includes Alexander Beglov, acting St. Petersburg governor and an acquaintance of Putin, who authorities feared would lose in the first round despite his three largest competitors dropping out.
With 90% of ballots counted, Beglov has won 65% of the vote, although some suspect falsification.
Khabarovsk:
United Russia won just two of 36 seats in the Khabarovsk Duma. LDPR won 32, and the communists won two.
The region’s current governor is Sergey Furgal of the LDPR, who won on a protest wave last year.
Results from the elections are mixed. In most regions and in all gubernatorial races, voting went according to the Kremlin’s plan. However, in Moscow and Khabarovsk, Navalny’s “smart voting” was remarkably successful—even if the
5 RUSSIA Country Report October 2019 ww.intellinews.com