POLITICAL PARTIES AND THEIR LEADERS

RUSSIA'S POLITICAL PARTIES
AND ELECTORAL ASSOCIATIONS.
DECEMBER 1995

by Vladimir Pribylovsky

For ease of reference the following broad political definitions are used in this text:
"democrats" mean those political forces which, with certain variations, are for continued or resumed reform leading to free market democracy;
the "center" stands for those who believe that reforms have by and large been completed and who seek to consolidate the results, with some possible adjustments;
"communists" and their allies are groups that advocate a total or partial return to the pre-1991 (sometimes up to 1937) political and economic situation;
"national" and "imperial" patriots are those who accept or acquiesce to a free market economy but think it necessary to restore Russia's status as the Great Power (with national patriots viewing The Great Power purely on ethnic or racial-national terms and "imperial patriots" relegating the ethnic, racial and national elements of The Great Power to the bottom of the list of priorities or dismissing them altogether).
The "moderate opposition center" (also called the 'center left') is made up of those with a moderate leaning towards the communists, while the "moderate national-imperial opposition" occupies the middle ground between the center and the radical patriots.

A total of 43 electoral blocs and associations contested the elections for the State Duma on December 17th 1995. Aside from the fact that many blocs were obviously temporary "joint ventures" created for the sole purpose of winning seats in the Duma, these 43 groups can be subdivided into 7 main "camps" as far as their political orientation is concerned:
4 blocs and associations are pro-government democrats;
4 form the democratic opposition;
14 the pro-government "center";
9 are moderate opposition "center" (also known as the "left center");
3 are moderate national-imperial opposition;
4 are communists and their allies; and
4 are radical imperial-patriotic and national-patriotic opposition.
One electoral association defies political classification. It is the Beer Lovers Party.

  • Russia's Political Party Landscape on the eve of 1995 Elections

    1. PRO-GOVERNMENT DEMOCRATS

  • DEMOCRATIC CHOICE OF RUSSIA - UNITED DEMOCRATS (DVR-OD)
  • COMMON CAUSE MOVEMENT
  • CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC UNION - CHRISTIANS OF RUSSIA
  • FEDERAL-DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT (FDD)

    2. DEMOCRATIC OPPOSITION

  • YABLOKO (Apple)
  • FORWARD RUSSIA MOVEMENT
  • PAMFILOVA - GUROV - V.LYSENKO BLOC (The Republican Party of the RF)
  • ECONOMIC FREEDOM PARTY (PES)

    3. PRO-GOVERNMENT AND PRO-PRESIDENTIAL CENTER

  • OUR HOME IS RUSSIA (NDR)
  • PARTY OF RUSSIAN UNITY AND CONCORD (PRES)
  • KEDR ECOLOGICAL PARTY
  • DUMA-96 MOVEMENT
  • STABLE RUSSIA MOVEMENT
  • WOMEN OF RUSSIA MOVEMENT
  • BLOC 89 (89 REGIONS OF RUSSIA)
  • INDEPENDENTS' BLOC
  • NATIONALITIES' UNION
  • MUSLIM MOVEMENT "NOOR"
  • RUSSIAN LAWYERS' ASSOCIATION
  • RUSSIAN MUNICIPAL WORKERS UNION
  • ELECTORAL BLOC INCLUDING THE LEADERS OF THE PENSIONERS ... ("DZHUNA BLOC")
  • ELECTORAL BLOC INCLUDING THE LEADERS OF THE PARTY FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN... ("DIKUL BLOC", or "THE CAUSE OF PETER I")

    4. MODERATE OPPOSITION CENTER (CENTER-LEFT)

  • IVAN RYBKIN'S BLOC
  • TRADE UNIONS AND INDUSTRIALISTS - LABOUR UNION
  • MY FATHERLAND
  • TRANSFORMATION OF THE FATHERLAND
  • SOCIAL DEMOCRATS
  • WORKER'S SELF-GOVERNMENT PARTY (PST)
  • TIKHONOV-TUPOLEV-TIKHONOV BLOC
  • BORDERLINE GENERATIONS
  • POPULAR UNION PARTY

    5. BLOCS/ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN THE CENTER AND THE NATIONAL PATRIOTS

  • CONGRESS OF RUSSIAN COMMUNITIES (KRO)
  • STANISLAV GOVORUKHIN'S BLOC
  • FOR THE HOMELAND!

    6. COMMUNISTS AND AGRARIANS

  • COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION (CPRF)
  • AGRARIAN PARTY OF RUSSIA (APR)
  • POWER TO THE PEOPLE!
  • COMMUNISTS AND WORKING RUSSIA FOR THE SOVIET UNION

    7. NATIONAL AND IMPERIAL PATRIOTS

  • THE GREAT POWER (DERZHAVA) SOCIAL-PATRIOTIC MOVEMENT
  • LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF RUSSIA (LDPR)
  • NATIONAL-REPUBLICAN PARTY OF RUSSIA
  • RUSSIAN ALL-PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT (ROD)

    8. NON-TRADITIONAL PARTIES

  • BEER LOVERS' PARTY
    This text was written in January 1996 and translated into English by Federal News Service for "Maximov's Companion to the 1995 Russian Parliamentary Elections".
    Panorama
    InterReklama advertising
    InterReklama Advertising Network