VLADIMIR PUTIN’S UNITED Russia party could be set to lose its significant majority in the upcoming parliamentary elections, according to the latest opinion poll.

United Russia won 315 seats out of a possible 450 in the 2007 elections, giving the party a huge two-thirds majority and wide-reaching powers. The party is now facing the loss of as many as 63 seats.

The respected Levada Centre poll, published this week, showed that the ruling party’s main competition comes from the Communist Party, followed by the Liberal Democratic Party.

If United Russia loses its two-thirds majority it will be unable to enact some of the constitutional changes that it had planned.

Putin, currently Russia’s prime minister, has previously served two consecutive terms as president. The country’s constitution bars a person for serving beyond two consecutive terms, and United Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev stepped into the role in 2008.

This year, Putin announced his intention to run for the presidency again and was formally nominated by his party last week.

The poll reflects the frustration of many Russians over a political system that has been dominated by Putin and his fellow party members for the past 12 years. It comes on top of another humiliation for Putin, who was booed and jeered by a 20,000-strong crowd as he attempted to deliver a speech at a martial arts contest in last week – the first incidence of blatant disrespect which he has had to endure publicly, reports Al Jazeera.

Despite considerable pressure coming from home, Putin has nevertheless issued a warning to the West not to ‘interfere’ with the process of Russia’s upcoming elections: “All our foreign partners need to understand this: Russia is a democratic country, it’s a reliable and predictable partner with which they can and must reach agreement, but on which they cannot impose anything from the outside,” he said.