Putin gets a smack down
Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 11:04 pm
I guess the shirtless photos are no longer enough:
Vladimir Putin’s ruling party suffered a big drop in support in a parliamentary election on Sunday and was not certain even of holding on to a majority of seats, an exit poll showed.
If confirmed, the result is a considerable blow to Putin because the election was widely seen as a test of his personal authority before his planned return to the presidency next year.
The poll announced on state television showed Putin’s party, United Russia, would win the election to the State Duma lower house with 48.5 percent of the votes cast, compared with 64.3 percent in 2007.
The poll did not make clear how the 450 seats in the Duma would be shared out under complicated calculations. But a second poll projected United Russia, which has dominated the chamber since 2003, would have only 220 seats.
The communist party emerged in second place in both polls with considerable gains over 2007.