1995 Russian legislative election
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All 450 seats to the State Duma 226 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 64.4%  9.6 pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Legislative election were held in Russia on 17 December 1995.[1] At stake were the 450 seats in the State Duma (Gosudarstvennaya Duma), the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia.
Rules
The election law adopted for the 1995 election was similar to that adopted for the 1993 election, with some minor modifications. First, to secure a place on the proportional representation ballot, parties had to have registered with the Ministry of Justice no later than six months before the election, and the number of signatures they had to gather rose from 100,000 to 200,000. Second, invalid votes were now included in the calculation of the 5.0 percent threshold. Third, on the single-member district ballot, party endorsements of candidates were indicated.
Campaign
Out of the forty three parties and coalitions contesting the elections, only four cleared the 5% threshold to qualify for the proportional seats.
Pro-Government parties
Our Home – Russia had weightier resources and soon acquired the nickname of "party of power" for its reliance on elite political and economic office holders. It was also referred to as "Our Home Is Gazprom" for its close ties to Gazprom's substantial financial resources. Most of the cabinet ministers joined the bloc, and a number of business leaders and regional political elites affiliated with it. However, almost no other parties entered it, and many SMD candidates who had initially affiliated with the party soon left it. One of the early parties to enter the bloc, Sergei Shakhrai's Party of Russian Unity and Accord, also deserted it in August.[2] The party program called for "stability and development, democracy and patriotism, confidence and order" as well as "pragmatism" and "a civilized market". Other proposals were contradictory as the party proposed, among other things, to encourage foreign investment while protecting Russian manufacturers, and to promote agricultural reform while regulating land ownership.
In the election, the Our Home Is Russia bloc took 10.1% of the vote, enough to form a faction in the State Duma but not enough to serve as a dominant or pivotal force in parliament or in the regions. At its peak, the party claimed the membership of around one third of Russia's governors. However, both the center and regional elites made only ephemeral commitments to Our Home is Russia.[3][4]
Opposition parties
As a result of these elections, the Communists and their satellites, the Agrarians and other left-wing deputies, controlled a little less than the half of the seats. The populist LDPR occasionally sided with the left majority, but often supported the government. As in the previous Duma, the parliamentary groups of independent deputies had a significant influence on the balance of power in the parliament.
On January 17, 1996 a Communist, Gennady Seleznyov, was elected the Speaker of the Duma.
Results
| Party | PR | Constituency | Total seats |
+/– | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
| Communist Party | 15,432,963 | 22.30 | 99 | 8,636,392 | 12.78 | 58 | 157 | +92 |
| Liberal Democratic Party | 7,737,431 | 11.18 | 50 | 3,801,971 | 5.63 | 1 | 51 | –19 |
| Our Home – Russia | 7,009,291 | 10.13 | 45 | 3,808,745 | 5.64 | 10 | 55 | New |
| Yabloko | 4,767,384 | 6.89 | 31 | 2,209,945 | 3.27 | 14 | 45 | +12 |
| Women of Russia | 3,188,813 | 4.61 | 0 | 712,072 | 1.05 | 3 | 3 | –22 |
| Communists and Working Russia - for the Soviet Union | 3,137,406 | 4.53 | 0 | 1,276,655 | 1.89 | 1 | 1 | New |
| Congress of Russian Communities | 2,980,137 | 4.31 | 0 | 1,987,665 | 2.94 | 5 | 5 | New |
| Party of Workers' Self-Government | 2,756,954 | 3.98 | 0 | 475,007 | 0.7 | 1 | 1 | New |
| Democratic Choice of Russia–United Democrats | 2,674,084 | 3.86 | 0 | 1,819,330 | 2.69 | 9 | 9 | –85 |
| Agrarian Party | 2,613,127 | 3.78 | 0 | 4,066,214 | 6.02 | 20 | 20 | –27 |
| Derzhava | 1,781,233 | 2.57 | 0 | 420,860 | 0.62 | 0 | 0 | New |
| Forward, Russia! | 1,343,428 | 1.94 | 0 | 1,054,577 | 1.56 | 3 | 3 | New |
| Power to the People! | 1,112,873 | 1.61 | 0 | 1,345,905 | 1.99 | 9 | 9 | New |
| Pamfilova-Gurov-V. Lysenko | 1,106,812 | 1.6 | 0 | 476,721 | 0.71 | 2 | 2 | New |
| Trade Unions and Industrialists – Union of Labour | 1,076,072 | 1.55 | 0 | 584,063 | 0.86 | 1 | 1 | New |
| Environmental Party of Russia "Kedr" | 962,195 | 1.39 | 0 | 304,896 | 0.45 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ivan Rybkin Bloc | 769,259 | 1.11 | 0 | 1,073,580 | 1.59 | 3 | 3 | New |
| Stanislav Govorukhin Bloc | 688496 | 0.99 | 0 | 483281 | 0.72 | 1 | 1 | New |
| My Fatherland | 496,276 | 0.72 | 0 | 351,911 | 0.52 | 1 | 1 | New |
| Common Cause | 472,615 | 0.68 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 1 | New |
| Beer Lovers' Party | 428,727 | 0.62 | 0 | 57,946 | 0.09 | 0 | 0 | – |
| All Russian Muslim Public Movement "Nur" | 393513 | 0.57 | 0 | 49689 | 0.07 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Transformation of the Fatherland | 339,654 | 0.49 | 0 | 227,822 | 0.34 | 1 | 1 | New |
| National Republican Party of Russia | 331,700 | 0.48 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | – |
| 30 Words Bloc | 323,232 | 0.47 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | – |
| Party of Russian Unity and Accord | 245,977 | 0.36 | 0 | 285,654 | 0.42 | 1 | 1 | –26 |
| Russian Lawyers' Association | 242,966 | 0.35 | 0 | 96,046 | 0.14 | 0 | 0 | – |
| For the Motherland! | 194,254 | 0.28 | 0 | 213,723 | 0.32 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Christian-Democratic Union - Christians of Russia | 191,446 | 0.28 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | – |
| 38 Word Bloc | 145704 | 0.21 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | – |
| People's Union | 130,728 | 0.19 | 0 | 70,685 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | – |
| "Tikhonov-Tupolev-Tikhonov" Bloc | 102,039 | 0.15 | 0 | 65,458 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Russian Union of Workers of Residential-Communal Management | 97,274 | 0.14 | 0 | 115,386 | 0.17 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Social Democrats | 88,642 | 0.13 | 0 | 233,269 | 0.35 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Party of Economic Freedom | 88,416 | 0.13 | 0 | 199,150 | 0.29 | 1 | 1 | New |
| Russian All-People's Movement | 86,422 | 0.12 | 0 | 224,779 | 0.33 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Bloc of Independents | 83,742 | 0.12 | 0 | 375,287 | 0.56 | 1 | 1 | New |
| Federal Democratic Movement | 82,948 | 0.12 | 0 | 86,519 | 0.13 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Sociopolitical Movement "Stable Russia" | 81,285 | 0.12 | 0 | 159,226 | 0.24 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Duma-96 | 55,897 | 0.08 | 0 | 108,672 | 0.16 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Frontier Generations | 44,202 | 0.06 | 0 | 13,429 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Bloc '89 | 40,840 | 0.06 | 0 | 175,459 | 0.26 | 1 | 1 | New |
| Interethnic Union | 39,592 | 0.06 | 0 | 169,746 | 0.25 | 0 | 0 | – |
| All-Russian Sociopolitical Movement of Transport Workers | – | – | – | 162,263 | 0.24 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Democratic Russia and Free Trade-Unions | – | – | – | 158,040 | 0.23 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Non-Party-Based Voters' Political Movement "Common Cause" | – | – | – | 148,584 | 0.22 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Sociopolitical Movement "Education is Russia's Future" | – | – | – | 129,399 | 0.19 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Union of Patriots | – | – | – | 118,441 | 0.18 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Christian Democratic Union - Christians of Russia | – | – | – | 102,335 | 0.15 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Union of Russian Muslims | – | – | – | 65,688 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Union of Communists | – | – | – | 62,181 | 0.09 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Party of Supporters of Tax Reduction | – | – | – | 61,519 | 0.09 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Democratic Alternative | – | – | – | 61,252 | 0.09 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Conservative Party | – | – | – | 57,351 | 0.08 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Bloc of leaders of 8 parties | – | – | – | 51,928 | 0.08 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Russian Party | – | – | – | 43,221 | 0.06 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Union of Patriotic Orthodox Organisations | – | – | – | 42,269 | 0.06 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Economic Alternative | – | – | – | 37,622 | 0.06 | 0 | 0 | – |
| We are Serving for Russia! | – | – | – | 35,535 | 0.05 | 0 | 0 | – |
| League of Independent Scientists | – | – | – | 28,666 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 | – |
| National-Republican Party of Russia | – | – | – | 27,197 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Social Alliance "Revival" | – | – | – | 27,032 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Russian Union of Local Self-Government | – | – | – | 21,427 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Our Future | – | – | – | 18,488 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Faith, Labour, Conscience | – | – | – | 14,639 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Russian Party of Car Owners | – | – | – | 8,088 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | – |
| People's Salvation Front | – | – | – | 1,881 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Workers' Collectives and Greens for the Union of Co-Owners | – | – | – | 1,442 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | – |
| European Liberal Democratic Party | – | – | – | 154 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Independents | – | – | – | 21,620,835 | 31.99 | 77 | 77 | –53 |
| Against all | 1,918,151 | 2.77 | – | 6,660,495 | 9.85 | – | – | – |
| Invalid/blank votes | 1,320,619 | – | – | 1,582,227 | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 69,204,819 | 100 | 225 | 69,167,934 | 100 | 225 | 450 | 0 |
| Registered voters/turnout | 107,496,856 | 64.4 | – | 107,496,856 | 64.3 | – | – | – |
| Source: University of Essex, Nohlen & Stöver | ||||||||
Parliamentary Groups
| Parliamentary group | Leader | Seats (Jan.'96)[1] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Communist Party of the Russian Federation | Gennady Zyuganov | 139 | |
| Our Home - Russia | Sergei Belyaev | 65 | |
| Liberal Democratic Party of Russia | Vladimir Zhirinovsky | 49 | |
| Yabloko | Grigory Yavlinsky | 45 | |
| "Regions of Russia (Independent Deputies)" | Oleg Morozov | 44 | |
| People's Power | Nikolai Ryzhkov | 41 | |
| Agrarian Group | Nikolay Kharitonov | 35 | |
| Democratic Choice of Russia (unregistered) | Sergey Yushenkov | 6 | |
| Independents | 19 | ||
| Total | 450 | ||
References
- ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1642 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
- ^ Belin&Orttung 1997, pp. 34–36
- ^ Hale, 2006, pp. 208–209
- ^ McFaul, 2001, p. 205
