Russia's Medvedev: "Democracy has functioned"

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday said the probable victory of his party in a parliamentary election showed the real political situation in the country, and that democracy was vindicated, dpa reported.

"These elections have produced a result that shows the real political balance in the country," Medvedev said. "Other people may not like it but the democratic process has functioned ... and Russia will get a capable parliament."

United Russia's capture of "probably around 50 per cent" of votes cast in the election was a "definite success," he said, in comments made from the party's Moscow headquarters and aired by the NTV television channel.