Elections show Russians much more interested in foreign political agenda

Ten self-nominated candidacies and 35 representatives of parties United Russia, the Communist Party, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Rodina have won elections to the Moscow City Duma, said the head of the Moscow municipal electoral committee, Valentin Gorbunov.

Elections to the Moscow City Duma of the 6th convocations were held on September 14. The metropolitan parliament currently has 35 seats - 33 of them belong to United Russia and three - to the Communist Party. The newly elected City Council will have 45 deputies.

"As a result of the elections, 28 seats went to United Russia, which is 62.23 percent of the total membership of the Parliament. The Communist Party obtained five seats (11,11%), the Liberal Democratic Party received one seat (2.22%), Rodina party received one mandate (2.22%). Independent self-nominated candidates received ten mandates," said Gorbunov.

The regional and local elections on September 14 in Russia showed that most Russians are much more interested in foreign political issues and Russia's role in the world, rather than local election campaigns, the head of the Russian Public Opinion Research Center WCIOM, Valery Fyodorov said.

"Today, the main political conflict that lives in the minds of the Russian people is the conflict between Russia and the West. The protest background has subsided considerably in comparison with the previous year. Most opposition parties lost their agenda," the official said.

The average turnout at the gubernatorial elections this year made up 46.25%, which was 12% higher than the turnout at last year's elections.

Gubernatorial elections were held in 30 subjects of the Russian Federation. All sitting governors, according to preliminary estimations, preserved their seats.