Russian election campaign opens

Saturday marks the official start of campaigning in the Russian parliamentary election.

Russians will elect 450 members of the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, when they vote on 2 December.

The support of President Vladimir Putin means one party is already virtually assured of a comfortable victory.

Since he announced he would take the top spot on United Russia's electoral list, the party has been all but guaranteed a huge majority.

Mr Putin himself is not expected to take a seat.

Russian electoral law means he can be on the party list without doing so but his endorsement should deliver United Russia an even larger share of the vote they were already likely to receive.

For Mr Putin's opponents, and they are a minority in Russia today, this is proof that Russian democracy is in poor health.

They point to the fact that much of the news media is controlled by the state or by businesses with close ties to the Kremlin.

Two-party parliament?

Critics also cry foul over changes in the law since the last election.

Voters are no longer allowed to cast their ballots against all candidates.

A party used to have to get 5% of the vote to win seats in parliament, now it is seven.

That being the case, recent opinion polls suggest only United Russia and the Russian Communist Party will pass the threshold.

The Liberal Democratic party, led by the veteran Russian nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky and the newly formed A Just Russia also have a chance.

However, they would need to get a larger share of the vote than the pollsters currently foresee.

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