MOSCOW. March 9 (Interfax) - The agreement signed by the Communist, Liberal Democratic and United Russia parties on joint monitoring of local elections may become a guarantee of their transparency and fairness, Russian analysts said.

"If the agreement does not remain on paper, as occasionally happens in Russia, it may become an example of the readiness of all, or at least a significant number, of political forces to drop unconventional methods of the political struggle and give voters the chance to exercise their voting rights," the United Russia website quoted director of VTsIOM public opinion center Valery Fyodorov as saying.

"On the one hand, there is noting special about the agreement because the sides to the electoral process are declaring their readiness to observe the rules or be law-abiding, but on the other hand, it is unprecedented because it was signed by political adversaries, primarily I mean United Russia and Communists," Fyodorov said.

Head of the Agency for Political and Economic Communications Dmitri Orlov said he believes that the agreement "creates guarantees of stability in ballot-counting and summing up the results of elections in general," he said.

The pact will be effective. "United Russia, the Communist and Liberal Democratic Parties are serious players. The parties that did not sign it represent a minor part of the electorate. Each of them has its own reasons. I believe not to strive to fair vote-counting or normally completing the election campaign means to feel certain problems in voter backing," he said.