"In the interest of Russia's future, a political force that supports and is ready to continue supporting the course of the incumbent Russian president must win the upcoming elections," Boris Gryzlov, who is also speaker of the State Duma, told a party congress, adding these include federal, regional and local elections.
In a message to the congress, the Russian president said United Russia is the most influential political force in the country.
"During the years that have passed since its creation, the party has accumulated a substantial creative experience," Vladimir Putin said.
Gryzlov said last month United Russia must gain a minimum of 250 seats in the 2007 parliamentary elections.
"We are aiming to secure an overwhelming majority in the parliamentary elections in 2007, and 250 seats are a minimum that United Russia must obtain," he said
Russia's best-represented party, with 2,555 branches across the country and 999,546 members (as of March 6, 2006), United Russia secured a little over 37% of the popular vote in its landslide victory in the 2003 elections to the 450-seat Duma, and then captured all the chairmanships of the house's committees.
