Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for legislative elections on September 20, in the context of his and the Kremlin party, United Russia’s, continuous decline in popularity, according to all polls.
Vladimir Putin, who was re-elected in 2024 for a new six-year term at the helm of Russia, signed a decree on Tuesday convening legislative elections in the fall of this year, according to the Russian state’s legal information portal, as reported by Agerpres.
The voting intention for the presidential party United Russia has dropped below 30% in recent months and is approaching its lowest historical level, 26.4%, recorded in August 2021.
The main causes are the population’s fatigue from war and drone attacks, the deterioration of living standards due to rising prices for daily consumption, as well as frequent interruptions of internet services. At the same time, many Russians associate these problems, including restrictions on access to social networks, with the actions of the ruling party’s deputies in the State Duma (the lower house of Parliament).
In the meantime, the New People party, a center-right political project launched in 2020 and created with the tacit support of the Kremlin, has gained ground in polls through opposition to these measures, which President Vladimir Putin justified by the need to protect citizens’ safety, although experts argue that the efficiency of Ukrainian drones has no connection with the population’s internet access. In this context, the press notes that United Russia has not yet presented its electoral program, which is directly influenced by the developments on the front, economic indicators, and the level of control over the internet.
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