Russian Political Parties

[*Viva La Revolucion*]

Politics in Russia is very confusing to me. I didn't realise how little I knew about the current situation until I looked at the thread in anti-fascism on Nazism. Could anyone give a brief summary of the various political parties/groups and what they stand for (or a link to somewhere that gives a good introduction)?

Thank you x

[zubovskyblvd]

The main party in Russia these days is called United Russia, it's essentially there just to support the President (it was created by the Kremlin a few years ago). There's also the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) who get mixed views from the left, with some accusations of extreme nationalism levelled at them; the Liberal Democratic Party, who despite their name are pretty much far-right extremists; and I think there's another party in the Duma at the moment, but their name escapes me. Outside of the Duma, I think there are hundreds of parties...

[btpound]

So they still have a communist party? I figured the government would like outlaw it. I don't know much about Russia, but I understood that public support still favored socialism, and that the government was incredibly repressive.

[Spawn of Stalin]

Party politics in Russia is dominated by United Russia, they win every election and generally have the support of Fair Russia who are a democratic socialist/social democratic party, and Right Cause which is a liberal conservative grouping of members of the centrist Civilian Power, and the populist Democrats. United Russia's platform consists of both left and right-wing elements, their alleged goal is to unite all Russian political forces and bring about a more egalitarian system. Of course this is far from the truth, quite a few of United Russia's high profile figures were late members of the Communist Party who agreed with and supported Gorbachev's reforms which led to the collapse of socialism.

The only other party with a lot of support is the Communist Party, and even they only manage to achieve 20-30% in elections. The CPRF is widely criticised by many Russian Communists including members of the original CPSU, for touting millionaire capitalists as electoral candidates. They are also backed by the Kremlin and United Russia as the "official opposition". Although they claim to be, the CPRF is by no means the true successor to the CPSU.

It's something of a dictatorship, actually.

[Q]

The only communist formation in Russia I'm aware of is Socialist Resistance (http://socialism.ru/).

[Spawn of Stalin]

Don't forget the All-Union Communist Party Bolsheviks.

;)

[*Viva La Revolucion*]

Thanks for the information. I Wikipedia'd United Russia and it looks worse than New Labour. A lot worse.

Socialist, the RCWP-RCP do seem quite good, although I don't know much about them yet. I don't think much of the KPRF from what I've seen.

And I know it's not strictly a party, but what's the youth movement 'Nashi' all about? I don't quite understand what they're trying to achieve, and it looks bizarre. They call themselves anti-fascists but they seem to have some fascist tendencies. Do they have some sort of personality cult built around Putin? Weird. :blink:

[Die Neue Zeit]

To make things interesting, Russia has the equivalent of the UK SWP and its erstwhile front group Respect: the Left Front. This "left" front is the assortment of the KPRF (critiques per above, plus anti-Semitism), various sects obsessed with the "CPSU" abbreviation (if not, then "Russian" and "Communist" plus something else), the *National Bolsheviks* (whether its fascist economics have been dropped is a question to be discussed), and Islamist groups here and there (like UK Respect).

[What Would Durruti Do?]

Thanks for the information. I Wikipedia'd United Russia and it looks worse than New Labour. A lot worse.

Socialist, the RCWP-RCP do seem quite good, although I don't know much about them yet. I don't think much of the KPRF from what I've seen.

And I know it's not strictly a party, but what's the youth movement 'Nashi' all about? I don't quite understand what they're trying to achieve, and it looks bizarre. They call themselves anti-fascists but they seem to have some fascist tendencies. Do they have some sort of personality cult built around Putin? Weird. :blink:

your assessment of Nashi is pretty spot-on. they're government-sponsored youth anti-fascists which are obviously pretty nationalistic and pro-Putin. kinda ironic and funny really

[FSL]

To make things interesting, Russia has the equivalent of the UK SWP and its erstwhile front group Respect: the Left Front. This "left" front is the assortment of the KPRF (critiques per above, plus anti-Semitism), various sects obsessed with the "CPSU" abbreviation (if not, then "Russian" and "Communist" plus something else), the *National Bolsheviks* (whether its fascist economics have been dropped is a question to be discussed), and Islamist groups here and there (like UK Respect).


The CPRF isn't in any alliance or front with national bolsheviks, the last I heard of them they were joining Kasparov's little protests.
Anti-semitism nowadays is an accusation thrown towards any self-respecting communist.

I 'm not in touch with Russian politics but I can agree with CPRF in many subjects. Them being called nationalists amounts to dismissing people that are unhappy about capitalism in eastern Europe as simply nostalgic. Communists around the world were considered traitors for supporting the Soviet Union, the only ones that shouldn't are evidently soviet communists since in their case that's nationalistic?

[zubovskyblvd]

Them being called nationalists amounts to dismissing people that are unhappy about capitalism in eastern Europe as simply nostalgic. Communists around the world were considered traitors for supporting the Soviet Union, the only ones that shouldn't are evidently soviet communists since in their case that's nationalistic?

I think it goes a little deeper than that. Their leader, Zyuganov, has written some books that basically drop the idea of international socialism in favour of patriotic nationalism, and the CPRF has been in electoral fronts with a whole host of rather iffy nationalist parties. I think there is plenty of critical material out there if you have a nose around

[Comrade Gwydion]

National Bolsheviks ^^;;
Weren't that fascists who'd like Stalin as a führer?

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Gennady Zyuganov really is the anti-thesis of a good socialist revolutionary. He has retreated into the defensive position of allying with Russian Nationalists and promoting such a cause. This eliminates the possiblity of being able to build international socialism.

I would not support the KPRF if I were a Russian.