Page 9 - RusRPTSept21

2.0 Politics
2.1 Russia’s ruling United Russia party faces prospect of
losing its majority in the upcoming elections
As its poll numbers drop to new lows, Putin-supporting United Russia party faces the prospect of losing its absolute hold on power in September’s elections. Ahead of upcoming elections, polls have the faction hovering at around 25-35% support, far short of previous highs, according to recent polls.
In 2016, the ruling party received 54.20% of the vote, according to official results, giving it a supermajority of seats. But the popularity of United Russia has declined significantly in the last three years as the economy stagnates and has been battered by economic shocks.
In spring 2018, around the time of the country’s presidential election, the party was polling at about 50%, well ahead of its nearest rivals, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) which remained in the mid-teens.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has hurt the party’s popularity with a few painful reforms including increasing VAT taxes by 2%, the main revenue
9 RUSSIA Country Report September 2021 www.intellinews.com