DATE=12/19/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=DUMA ELECTIONS
NUMBER=2-257287
BYLINE=BILL GASPERINI
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:


INTRO: Millions of voters in Russia are casting 
ballots today to elect a new 450-seat parliament, or 
Duma.  The vote comes after a campaign dominated by 
mudslinging in the media and as a brutal war rages in 
the southern Chechen
region. Bill Gasperini has more from Moscow.


//Act. of  sound of ballots being put into poll boxes,  
fade under//

Voting has been taking place all across Russia's 
eleven time zones as millions of people mark their 
choices on ballot sheets before placing them inside 
wooden poll boxes.

Voters are selecting from a dizzying array of over 26 
parties for the 450 seats in the Duma, Russia's lower 
house of parliament.

Only six of those parties are likely to get the 
minimum five percent support in order to
enter the Duma, and opinion polls suggest the 
Communists will probably win the largest bloc of 
seats.

The election has in essence become a race for second 
place, with a newly-formed party called Unity likely 
to poll just behind the Communists.

Unity is strongly backed by the Kremlin and popular 
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in a challenge to an 
opposition bloc called Fatherland, likely to come in 
third.

Fatherland is led by former Prime Minister Yevgeny 
Primakov and Moscow's powerful mayor Yuri Luzkhkov, 
who have both been hurt by scathing attacks in Russian 
media.

Powerful figures in the Kremlin and Russia's business 
community have rallied to prevent the two opposition 
leaders from threatening their grip on power.

Another dominant factor is the bloody war in Chechnya, 
which has strongly boosted the political fortunes of 
Prime Minister Putin.

Mr. Putin's strong stand against Chechen militants has 
found resonance among
many Russians who are weary of corruption and years of 
political uncertainty.

Many analysts say Mr. Putin could well become Russia's 
next president in the more important presidential 
elections scheduled for next summer.  

In a sense, the Duma voting is regarded as something 
of a dress rehearsal
for that crucial election in six months time. (Signed)

NEB/BG/PLM
 
 



19-Dec-1999 05:25 AM EDT (19-Dec-1999 1025 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.