#16 - JRL 7243
Poll Suggests Only Four Parties Will Have Seats in New Parliament

MOSCOW. June 26 (Interfax) - Some 56% of Russians would vote in parliamentary elections if they were held next Sunday, says a poll carried out by the All-Russian Public Opinion Center (VTsIOM). The poll suggests that 26% will not bother to vote, while 15% are unsure if they will vote. VTsIOM polled 1,600 Russian citizens at the end of May. If elections were held next Sunday, the Communist Party and the pro-presidential Unified Russia would be supported by approximately equal numbers of voters, 27% and 26%, respectively. This compares to 28% and 23% earlier in the month. Grigory Yavlinsky's Yabloko party would come in third with 8% of the vote. It's position has not deteriorated since the previous poll. It is ahead of Vladimir Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic Party, whose support has dwindled from 10% in the previous poll to just 6%. No other party would gain the 5% needed to enter the State Duma. In particular, the Union of Right Forces can expect just 3% of the vote, a marked fall from the 5% who said they would vote for the party in the previous poll.