Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
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Liberal Democratic Party of Russia | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Vladimir Zhirinovsky |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Headquarters | Moscow |
| Ideology | Russian (ultra)nationalism[1], Right-wing populism, Social-liberalism |
| Political position | Far-right[1] |
| European affiliation | None |
| International affiliation | None |
| Colours | Blue, Gold |
| Website | |
| http://www.ldpr.ru/ | |
The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia ([Либерально-Демократическая Партия России] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help) (ЛДПР), Liberal'no-Demokraticheskaya Partiya Rossii) (or LDPR) is a political party in Russia. It has been led by Vladimir Zhirinovsky almost since its founding, in 1989, as the Liberal Democratic Party of the Soviet Union. The LDPR describes itself as a centrist, pro-reform democratic party. The programme of the party calls for democracy and social liberalism. Despite the name, a widespread opinion outside of Russia is that the party's ideology is not liberal[2][3][4][5][6] and it is often regarded, especially in external media, as an ultranationalist party [7]. The LDPR states that its main political opponents are Yabloko and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF). It describes itself as an opposition party; however, its deputies hardly ever voted against the Putin government. It received a plurality of the vote in the 1993 Russian Duma elections. It is anti-NATO and against the United States.
History of creation
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The former CPSU Politburo member Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev claims that the party was a joint project of CPSU leadership and the KGB. Yakovlev wrote in his memories that KGB director Vladimir Kryuchkov presented the project of the puppet LDPR party at a meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev and informed him about a selection of LDPR leaders. According to Yakovlev, the name of the party was invented by KGB General Philipp Bobkov. However Bobkov said that he was against the creation of this "Zubatov-like pseudo-party under KGB control that directs interests and sentiments of certain social groups". [8]
Platform
The LDPR's main proposals include: [9][10]:
- Reform and consolidation of Russia's judicial system;
- Capital punishment for those convicted of terrorism, premeditated murder, and other serious crimes;
- The abolition of "non-traditional" and "fanatic" religious sects in Russia;
- State ownership of strategic sectors of the economy, particularly natural resources, alcohol, tobacco, and agriculture;
- Lower taxes for domestic producers;
- Unification between Russia and Belarus;
- The right to work;
- Radical reform of the social insurance system;
- State support for science-intensive technologies and agriculture;
- The abolition of government corruption;
- Russian economic sovereignty/protectionism
- Control of all agricultural land by the state.
Electoral results
- 1991 presidential elections - 8%
- 1993 Duma elections - 23%
- 1995 Duma elections - 11%
- 1996 presidential elections - 6%
- 1999 Duma elections - 5.98% (it contested them as the 'Zhirinovsky Bloc')
- 2000 presidential elections - 2.7%
- 2003 Duma elections - 12%
- 2004 presidential election (Zhirinovsky decided not to run, his first deputy Oleg Malyshkin ran instead) - 2%
- 2007 Duma elections - 8.8%
- 2008 presidential election - 9.35% [11]
See also
References
- ^ a b http://www.parties-and-elections.de/russia.html
- ^ Serge Schemann. The Russian Vote: Man in the News -- Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky; Muscovite With Bravado. The New York Times, December 14, 1993
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=oHgOlnNtG7cC&pg=PA288&dq=liberal+democratic+party+of+russia+%22social+liberal+%22&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=Gs4BTVg0hXgC&pg=PA74&dq=liberal+democratic+party+of+russia+ultranationalist
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=_1kkQYEq_P0C&pg=PR18&dq=liberal+democratic+party+of+russia+ultranationalist
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=Vt5OLD3vp4UC&pg=PA163&dq=liberal+democratic+party+of+russia+ultranationalist
- ^ BBC NEWS Europe | Moscow Diary: Campaign circus
- ^ Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev Time of darkness, Moscow, 2003, ISBN 5-85646-097-9, page 574 (Russian: Яковлев А. Сумерки. Москва: Материк 2003 г.). The book provides an official copy of a document providing the initial LDPR funding (3 million rubles) from the CPSU money
- ^ Russiaprofile
- ^ RussiaToday
- ^ Election results in Russian