Russians to cut Putin's party majority in vote - poll

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http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/11/25/uk-russia-election-poll-idUKTRE7AO0OT20111125

(Reuters) - Russians will strip Vladimir Putin's ruling party of its huge majority in parliament at the December 4 election, narrowing the paramount leader's room for legislative manoeuvre when he returns to the Kremlin, a leading pollster predicted on Friday.

Based on its last major opinion survey before the election, Russia's biggest independent pollster said the United Russia party would win about 252-253 places in the 450-seat lower house of parliament, down from the 315 it has now.

If the party's majority is cut to 28 seats, Putin could still push through laws after the March 4 presidential vote he is almost certain to win, but he would have to enlist other parties' support for big changes like constitutional amendments.

The decline in support reflects what pollsters say is a sense of fatigue with the entrenched party and even with Putin, whose approval ratings remain high but who was jeered in public at a martial arts fight in Moscow last Sunday.