United Russia party wins Chechen parliamentary vote

The United Russia party has taken the largest number of parliamentary seats in this week's elections in Chechnya, the Chechen Election Commission said Saturday in its announcement of official results of the vote.

United Russia got 24 of the 58 seats in the bicameral Chechen parliament, Ismail Baikhanov, chairman of the Chechen Election Commission, was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

United Russia won 61 percent the votes in the poll, the commission said.

The Russian Communist Party came second with six seats and the Union of Right-wing Forces third with four seats.

The fourth vote in the region since 2003, which followed two presidential elections and one constitutional referendum, this parliamentary poll will give Chechnya a full set of government bodies for it to function as a normal part of the Russian state after years of conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has cast the vote as crowning the restoration of the war-ravaged region's constitutional system.

Source: Xinhua