6th State Duma Of the seven parties participating in the elections, only four were able to overcome the 7% election threshold to gain representation based upon the proportional representation system. On December 21, 2011, the parliament elected Sergey Naryshkin from the United Russia as the Chairman of the State Duma. At the same time, according to tradition, until the election of the Chairman of the State Duma, the meeting carried the oldest members of the State Duma – 87-year-old Vladimir Dolgikh (from United Russia) and 81-year-old Zhores Alferov (from Communist Party). On December 21, 2011, the State Duma approved the composition of its
3rd State Duma elected Gennadiy Seleznyov as the Chairman of the State Duma. In the State Duma at the 3rd convocation, two coalitions functioned at different times as the majority. In both cases, the coalitions were initiated by the "Unity" faction. The first coalition was formed immediately after the announcement of election results, during the preparations for the first meeting of the new parliament. The "Unity" faction and the Communist Party (the largest in the State Duma) signed a package agreement, according to which they shared the top positions of the Duma and the chairmanships of parliamentary committees. As for "Unity" it was