Moscow, 1 April: If elections to the State Duma [lower house of the Russian parliament] were scheduled for next Sunday [7 April], the Communist faction led by Gennadiy Zyuganov would receive a third of all votes (34 per cent), sociologists from the All-Russia Centre for Public Studies told Interfax today, citing a nationwide poll among 1,600 Russians conducted on 26 March.
Only respondents who are going to vote or have already made their choice regarding a faction, bloc or movement were taken into consideration.
Every fifth respondent (21 per cent) would vote for One Russia, led by [Emergencies Minister] Sergey Shoygu and [Moscow mayor] Yuriy Luzhkov. Third place (8 per cent) would go to the Russian Liberal Democratic Party led by [Duma deputy speaker] Vladimir Zhirinovskiy.
Others support the Women of Russia faction led by Alevtina Fedulova (7 per cent), Yabloko, led by Grigoriy Yavlinskiy (7 per cent), and the Union of Right Forces led by Boris Nemtsov (6 per cent). All other factions and movements would not be able to exceed the 5 per cent minimum required for entering the State Duma.