The Russian political party backed by President Vladimir Putin will hold more than three-fourths of the country’s lower house of parliament, in a strong showing in national elections. The United Russia party, which was founded by Putin, was reported to be on track to win 343 of the 450 available seats in the Duma, up from 238 during the last parliamentary election in 2011. However, turnout was lackluster, at 48 percent, down from 60 percent during the last cycle. The party is led by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev; Putin himself does not belong to a particular party. “We can confidently say that the party has achieved a very good result,” Putin said during a visit to United’s headquarters after the vote.
