MOSCOW. Dec 3 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin in fact received a vote of confidence as a result of the December 2 State Duma elections, Effective Policy Foundation head Gleb Pavlovsky said.

"This was a risky moment for Putin. He raised the issue of vote of confidence to him, and he received such a vote," Pavlovsky said at the Elections-2007 information center on Monday.

Commenting on preliminary results, the political expert said that "primarily, the voter turnout is surprising, which is hard to explain by anything else but Putin's personality." Putin's last week appeal to vote for United Russia boosted the voter turnout and promoted the success of United Russia, the expert said.

It is remarkable that Fair Russia will be represented in the State Duma, he said. "If (Fair Russia leader and speaker of the Federation Council Sergei) Mironov's party gets through, there will be pro- presdiential Fair Russia and presidential United Russia in the State Duma. The issue of how they will build their relations is open," Pavlovsky said.

The political expert also underscored the "collapse of the Union of Right Forces (SPS)," which resulted from the fact that the party had changed its strategy.

"Though their strategy towards pensioners was called populist, there was a certain point in it. When they replaced it with the fight against Putin's line, they lost everything," Pavlovsky said.

"The figure (SPS results) will be an accurate evaluation of the extent of anti-Putin position," the political expert said.