Putin party heads for triumph in Russia

Putin’s supporters say a pro-Kremlin majority would hand the ex-KGB spy more power to push economic reform and fight corruption. But critics fear the death of democracy in the the vast nation after liberal parties were all but wiped out.

The rouble rose against the dollar but stocks opened down on concerns about liberal parties’ poor showing, which could push key reformists off powerful Parliament committees.

United Russia, created by the Kremlin for the last election in 1999 to help secure Putin’s rise to power, won 36.8 per cent of the vote for the state Duma Lower House, latest results showed. Its main slogan was ‘‘Together with the President’’.

Ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s party — which backs the Kremlin on key issues — won 11.8 per cent and Motherland, seen by many as a Kremlin creation to draw off votes from the Communists, had nine per cent. ‘‘This should bring him to a two-thirds majority, with the backing of at least one of the parties which United Russia will depend on for support,’’ said Alex Garrard at UBS. ‘‘Backing for those guys could change the constitution, to initiate a referendum to extend Putin’s term.’’

“That the Motherland was able to break away from the pack was the ‘expected unexpected’ news of the day,” political analyst Sergei Makarov said. Commenting on the success of his bloc, the co-chairman of the Motherland said it was ready to join hands with United Russia in Parliament.

The badly-mauled Communist Party — which had only 12.8 per cent, well down from the 24 per cent they garnered in 1999 — called Sunday’s polls a farce and accused the Kremlin of fraud. Liberal Party leaders said the vote concentrated too much power in the hands of United Russia and of nationalists.

‘‘We will have an entirely different political picture in Russia,’’ said Boris Nemtsov, whose pro-business Union of Right-wing Forces may scrape only a few seats in the Duma.

The vote reflected widespread support for Putin’s efforts to restore control since succeeding Boris Yeltsin in 2000 and bringing an end to the chaos of the early reform years.