December 8, 2003	Monday	Shawwal 13, 1424

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MOSCOW, Dec 7: The political bloc supporting President Vladimir Putin surged into the lead in Russia’s parliamentary election on Sunday as first results showed the once powerful communists suffering a crushing defeat.

An exit poll and first official results based on the count from Russia’s far east indicated the pro-Kremlin United Russia had polled easily twice as many votes as the communists to become the dominant force in the new State Duma (lower house).

The first results released by Russia’s electoral commission said United Russia had scored 36.5 per cent in the far east, and the exit poll gave them a predicted 34 per cent nationwide.

The regional results, issued after polling closed in the westernmost point of Russia and roughly in line with the exit poll, put the communists on only 13 per cent — way down from the 24 per cent they garnered in the 1999 election.

Ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s Liberal Democratic Party had 15.6 per cent, reflecting its traditionally strong showing in the east. That was likely to drop as other areas reported results.—Reuters