voting in russia's parliamentary election is over the focus is on how much popular support the ruling united russia party receives and whether it'll be fifty percent of the vote we're bringing you special coverage here on r.t. . also iran's military forces say they have shot down an unmanned u.s. drone in the east of the country according to a state news agency. and in a round up the week's top headlines the u.n. human rights commissioner calls for international intervention in syria but russia and china vote against the resolution saying foreign meddling will only cause more bloodshed.

this nine pm here in moscow you're watching on t.v. live from the russian capital with me. so straight to our extensive coverage of russia's parliamentary election here on colleague and he said now he is in a special studio in central moscow over. yes bill polls are now officially closed all across russia the central election committee is about to announce the first exit poll results are waiting to see whether of course united russia party is leading the vote and whether or not it will make that fifty percent mark. at the

committee headquarters and now joins us live to go through what are the figures is it too early for you to give us any information about the actual numbers these i'm actually listening now we're expecting the results to be shown on those monitors but we hear the first exit polls now being announced during the press conference so we can say no big surprises around the first place now it's clear you're not russia is leading no one has already eight point five percent this is what we've just heard coming second are the communists the third i couldn't hear the figure clearly the communists of god but we can tell that the liberal democratic party has got eleven point four percent of ahead of them a calming effect of russia for russia devotees twelve point eight percent yabloko has gained four point two seventeen percent that's not enough to secure sea simba state duma. will get the result. his son will the information will come on the monitors behind us now this is the first time when all seven parties spread just

stood in russia or hold the candidates were allowed to field for parliament russia uses a party list proportional representation system in the duma election all in all four hundred fifty seats are at stake to be eligible for any seats at all a party needs to get at least seven percent of the vote and if a party breaks that very it gets a number of both proportionate to the number of seats and number of mandates proportional to the number of votes one in that election well according to the latest exit poll results the four parties the escort parties so far secured a certain number of seats in the next state duma these are. actually the parties which had previously been represented in the russian in the lower house of the russian parliament also this is the first time that the parties will be elected for a five year term previously they were elected for four years of course votes are still being counted will be receiving information about exit polls results

throughout the day here at the headquarters of the central election can meet and how it turns out will find out later through the night meanwhile back to you are nice. right thank you kathleen a live from the central election committee we have course we'll be updating you live on the very latest figures throughout the night and also martin mccauley a specialist on russia at the university of london will join us in a few minutes with his views but right now let's check in with daniel bushell he's at the headquarters of the united russia party dan you know according to the exit polls the party is leading the last we heard from county it was forty eight point five percent the big question are they going to go over the fifty percent mark what are people talking about at headquarters well there isn't much fear of tension here at the headquarters of the united russia party four years ago they got the two thirds majority they need to get through in poland on the road and if they get the fifty percent plus that is expected this time they can still be the ruling party

but they may need the support of all the parties to get some laws through that is expected to be the liberal democrats perhaps. a firebrand words in the criticism of its leaders. it does tend to vote the liberal democrat party those tend to vote with the government and they we may see a coalition government for the first time now in the prime minister is the party leader if the president tops the party list we do expect to see them shortly where they explain their first reactions to today's vote now we have a clip showing what the poll to gender is as well of some of the criticism that we've been seeing of united russia i think we can dismiss that now. as russians pick for parliament who are the main contenders in the race for a do list seats. he swapped seats with dmitri medvedev in two thousand and

eight may do so again in twenty twelve after midday to propose putin for the presidency current campaign slogan future of the us priorities modernization tightening inequality fighting corruption maximizing russia's impact to international affairs criticized as a monolith that's too slow to react to social change the world for being home to the tandem of logic and dmitri medvedev wanted russia action two thousand and eleven on party. officials here all talking about the stability that so the united russia party has brought the country in recent years as a major third point for them so they are hoping that this will reward them in the vote on sunday today. all right daniel bushnell live from united russia headquarters exit polls have them again at forty eight percent the communist party

coming in second so far exit polls at nineteen percent let's check in at communist party headquarters artie's arena go there for us what are people talking about there what's the mood one thousand percent so far. they are pretty happy with that number they were hoping for twenty or higher and by the looks of it they're actually going to get it i have to say the atmosphere here at the at the headquarters is rather relaxed nobody is running around nobody is in a hurry they are happy with the results that they are getting and you have to remember that this has been a party which has surprisingly or not so surprising we've been showing rather consistent positive results so a during the last elections which happened four years ago so people here are is saying they're joking around they're saying that they expect their results to be very good no tension whatsoever they did mention of course i think their primary focus the elections right now are these supposedly. the the the problems with the election at the electoral process it and they are staying the communists are saying

that they will follow through with the investigation all of whatever is happening at the at the polls today countrywide and they're calling on all of their supporters to come out and protest the results. on monday and on tuesday now what is the communist party like in the twenty first century here's a bit of information for you. as russians pick for parliament who are the main contenders in the race for duma seats. you know these uganda times the achievements of communism from before his time but he's criticized for his role for small with the russian orthodox church coming to campaign slogan the politics of the majority is made to we will return the motherland stolen from us priorities. free education and housing polishing illegal immigration and introducing ethnicity stamps in passports party success story second in all

presidential elections since the end of the u.s.s.r. criticized for exploiting soviet nostalgia with pensioners and a discontented industrial working class no no broad for its red flag with the hammer and sickle of the communist party of the russian federation do i lecture two thousand eleven on r t. a little idea there of the communist party here in russia in modern day what it all means like arena was saying they're planning on going out and protesting on monday well already over a hundred over one hundred people have been arrested in moscow as political organizations both pro-government and opposition trying to stage rallies on election day parties jacob griefs has the latest from central moscow but as we said actually these opposition protests will be somewhat lost on the ground that's radical nature throughout the course of the day there will be more individuals than say parties or movements as such no less the left front two are in attendance but

just behind me outside of the credible zone is square a few of the numbers to tell you by police basically using this tactic whereby following these protesters tools and there is a metro station is something they employed as well on the cheap so yes we would loyalty you know it's it russia and a few of their members the rest of us they express support for the government on this so we seen around the capital throughout the course of the day such as article thirty war bans movement true she's going through all of this is a release of their members to tell you by police as you mentioned the reason the police are using these tactics is because that prison is still the day of soylent whereby such opinions can be voiced is such a public's stage in case they sway people ahead of the end of polling. polls are now closed across russia exit poll slowly coming out right now we have

united russia at forty eight percent the communist coming in second at nineteen percent let's cross live to martin mccauley he joins us a specialist on russia at the university of london thank you for being with us but late last polling station is close like i said we can now speculate the media blackout is over let's talk about the outcome as you see it the main question are will the united russia get over that fifty percent do you think they will do that. i think they will do that because if you look at a ruling party in any country it loses votes over time they can't expect no to achieve what they did four years ago or or eight years ago so therefore the ruling party is always going to lose votes because people want to change. the system. ever the future they continue to lose votes as you've been saying what do you think they who do you think i should say yes they might be able to form an alliance with if they had to to keep their support. well the obvious part is the liberal

democrats because if you look at the last twenty years the liberal democrats have in fact sided with the government. with the putin of. the vote they vote regularly for the government and for stability so they're for the liberal democrats would in fact be a natural partner. with. the liberal democrats you mentioned them the communists are unexpectedly high and low on the polls do you think that was predictable. that are predictable because the communists have a british strong base because if you look at pensioners you'd expect them to do well among the working class specially the industrial working class. some young intellectuals who look back to the past and say we would like to develop marxism develop socialism therefore the problem is with our souls constituency but

they're basically not a ruling party. i think to me that imagery is of art and prime minister putin have both suggested that the ruling party should be modernized it needs reforms in order to avoid stagnation how do you see this initiative playing out over the next couple of years. what's going to happen i think is that the younger generation especially. young educated people will in fact press for a role in policy making their wish to articulate their views for russia they would like to modernization they would like russia to become more like a developed western country from an industrial point of view from an economic point of view as very important go away from the dependency of hydrocarbons and so on. russia has tremendous human capital because for instance if you look at software engineering it could be one of the leading countries in the world that potential has to be realized it has great engineering talent mathematical talent and it's the

task of the government really to develop that and allow the young people to play an important role because if they're not allowed to do this they will then emigrate. this is the first time a party can gain five to seven percent of the vote which is lower than the threshold and still get one or two seats in parliament is this going to give russia a better balance in the duma. yes it would be a good thing if there were some of the smaller parties more independent minded people because they go to the different views. of the united russia because it's a route it will contain the people who are in power the people who want to be in power. and the people who work for the government and so on those in the economy who depend on government contracts and so on. you need all those who are not the

president the government. to take place the views and all of this could be put into the mix to develop. russia which is going forward you know. right martin mccauley a specialist on russia at the university of london thanks for your analysis this hour well here on the first exit polls they show that united russia is leading with over forty eight percent of the vote the communists are coming in second just slightly short of twenty percent which is what they were hoping for fair russia has a little less than thirteen percent and the liberal democrats around twelve percent according to the polls the other three parties taking part haven't broken the seven percent threshold it should be noted of course that around thirty percent of people refuse to answer exit poll question so that's interesting when analysis and now analyzing i should say how this vote is going we will continue to monitor developments live from our special studio here as the central election committee is

set to release the first results continue to release these first results as voting has closed across russia join us next hour for extended coverage of election twenty eleven. sixteen minutes past nine sunday night here in the russian capital now let's turn to some news that shaped the past seven days in our weekly update on the latest news from around the world but of course we will continue our special election coverage throughout the evening iranian forces have shut down an american manned drone in the east of the country that's according to iran's state news agency the aircraft used for spying was reportedly downed with minimum damage and seized by iranian authorities american radio host an independent blogger steve lemmon says these tactics are nothing new from the u.s.

these drones but you were. carson's. been doing it so in america for so doing in many other countries. person so many teams there would be. rather you all. we wanted to change the regime to make it subservient to you which interest. is there is that curry's the notion believes it is the right tools or b. to run it'll be able to conduct its over thirty years it doesn't have to get a war in washington disagree do you realize the karzai. steven lemon talking to me a little earlier syria has reportedly accepted the arab league's plan to send a mission of foreign observers into the country this comes in the wake of sustained foreign pressure in damascus with the un's high commissioner for human rights

calling for international intervention she said four thousand people have been killed since the clashes began almost nine months ago however syria's ambassador to the u.n. responded by warning that the solution to the crisis cannot come from abroad resolution that could have paved the way for military intervention in syria was blocked by russia and china they believe the u.n. continues to ignore reports of atrocities committed by opposition fighters and think that foreign meddling would only make the situation worse in school analyst dr. questions just who the sanctions that have been imposed are aimed at. these sanctions are meaningless actually i think they're meaningless and on every level on the level on the economic level and on the security lap and it will not stop the violence western powers particularly the united states now to use these sanctions to use the decisions of the arab league for their own purposes to put pressure on syria to put pressure for the syrian regime to stop the killing as they

put it no what they want is do we commit to g.m. and to weaken the alliance between syria iran and lebanon i don't think they they. so much for for syrian blood in libya more than one hundred thousand people were killed by nato bombings come through as devastated that nobody said anyone. can't actually believe that there. are three thousand syrians when they are not actually what about more than one hundred thousand libyans it has nothing to do with stopping the violence on the contrary they're feeding the bodies we can't expect the syrian government and the syrian army to end the violence if the other if the gangs do not stop. atrocities against the syrian armed forces. with the twenty four hours a day this is still to come. as u.s.

police continue to crackdown on corporate protesters some officers are changing sides we meet one of them who explains why he joined the chorus of those aren't happy with current economic policies. egypt's state newspaper is reporting islam is parties have taken an overwhelming lead in the opening round of the country's first post revolution parliamentary election the muslim brotherhood's freedom and justice party reportedly going forty percent of the vote with the fundamentalist party thought to have claimed around twenty five percent however the results aren't final as most parties are set to go through to further election rounds over the next two months but as artie's point to slip reports from cairo many in the streets feel their votes will carry little weight. long queues vote stained fingers and a record turnout over a sign of political interest in a country where decades of dictatorship has lived in this small appetite for the power of the ballot the faces of candidates smiled down at one of the most of the

street and while egypt's sons are excited to be voting in a real election means the maoists say many hold nothing but also. there are iran to. try to. grow to meet you down within. a few days there are tens of thousands agnes now mohammed young unemployed and frustrated they think it doesn't matter who they vote for because the military will still make all the important decisions the problem is you know what are they actually going to produce a parliament that cannot appoint ministers that cannot appoint a government. whose constitution whatever it turns out to be is going to be guarded by the army many in egypt say they will continue to camp out on top here square the center of the revolution and in front of the parliament building youth movement leaders like us. dravot are protesting what they see as an empty vote of no democratic mandate who will be here. to make sure we will not

go in your office we have to stop you and you have to go and we do. two more rounds of voting still need to take place but a strong showing of the muslim brotherhood leaves little doubt that the islamic parties will have a significant majority in parliament for what it's worth although claims of a record sixty two percent turnout is already being questioned after a series of. reported the country's only female candidate for the presidency is not surprised. monitoring the election just took or let their mistakes their fraud we have no way for democracy but the west has been quick to praise the election as an important step towards change although the americans are beginning to say well no the army must go back to barracks deep down they'll be perfectly happy to keep the army where it is in egypt if you give one point three billion dollars

a year to the egyptian army which the americans do you with your expected to do what it wants which nice little room for the people to get what they want sitting the stage for more to hear turmoil r.t. . now back to our top story here in r t let's return to our parliamentary election coverage center for more analysis as the results come in. thanks bill i just want to bring you up to date on the latest exit polls they show that united russia in fact is leading with over forty eight percent of the vote the big question will they get fifty percent the communists are in second with just slightly sort of twenty percent fair russia has a little less than thirteen percent and the liberal democrats around twelve percent according to those polls the other three parties taking part having broken the

seven percent threshold it should be noted of course that around thirty percent of people refuse in fact to answer exit poll questions well we have a very special guest joining us at this hour prime minister vladimir putin's press secretary dimitri is ready to analyze some of these results are us thank you for being with us mike i said will united russia get fifty percent it looks like that's the big question what do you expect but as a matter of fact it's not it's not crucial for united russia party to get fifty percent for that's what it is important for the parties to get a result that would prove the quality of the leading political power in the country . and as soon as the party gets a majority in the parliament and as soon as the. result departed to continue its politics to continue its line for the whole country. to take a significant portion in the creation of the new government and so on and so forth

has to be considered as a victory of the party. what about if we compare it to two thousand and seven when they got almost sixty five percent what would that mean for you know well we have to remember we have to remember that this party was the ruling party in the country during a very harsh and very tough period during the last four years there was a period. of crisis on the part of managed managed to minimise the consequences of this crisis together with the government. consequences of this crisis for the population. so you were part of could not satisfy everyone in this country and its way all visit has lost some percentage some percentage but again i repeat it proved to be the leading political power in the country if united russia needs more votes per say in the duma who could they possibly form an alliance with. they want to have to form an alliance so we're going to need to be

a leading party this is the first time that the party getting five to seven percent of the vote lower than the official threshold of course still get one or two seats in the argument will this make the new parliament more balanced a better parliament a fairer part well definitely definitely will have more points of views more political vision presented in the poem and this will enable the neighbor. parliament members mode to have a broader vision to have a broader vision and to be maybe more effective in their activities both lead singer puts an end to meet their message of have had said that the party still needs reform they don't keep this is secret what exactly needs to be done to you reform united russia. countries developing very forced societies developing very focused and certainly. have to be intact with those processes so whatever is necessary. should be changed should be renovated

and this process will take place and they will take place for rapid and affect me to meet their disco. prime minister putin's press secretary thank you very much for taking the time q it was my pleasure thank you analyze polls so far like i said forty eight percent for united russia the communist party coming in second at one thousand percent we will continue to monitor the developments live from our special studio here in central moscow as the election committee headquarters continue to release these first results join us next hour for more coverage. so plenty more from a nice analogy there in central moscow over the next few hours this is r.t. life here in moscow i'll be back with the headlines very shortly stay with us.

to the. blind in russia would be so much brighter if you knew all about sun from funds to freshen.