The Democratic Party of Russia or DPR (russian: link=no, Демократическая Партия России, ''Demokraticheskaya Partiya Rossii'') is a conservative Russian political party that was founded in 1990. Under the leadership of
Andrey Bogdanov, the party advocated the entry of Russia into the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
.
[The democratic Congress Democratic party of Russia in Brussels]
/17 September 2007 In 2008, the party merged with several others to form the
Right Cause
The All-Russian Political Party «Right Cause» (PD; russian: Всероссийская политическая партия «Правое дело»; ПД; ''Vserossiyskaya politicheskaya partiya «Pravoye delo»'', ''PD'') was an officially r ...
. It was re-established as a party and officially registered again in 2012.
History
The Democratic Party of Russia was founded by
Nikolay Travkin. Other early leaders included
Stanislav Govorukhin
Stanislav Sergeyevich Govorukhin (russian: Станислав Сергеевич Говорухин; 29 March 1936 – 14 June 2018) was a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russians, Russian film director, actor, screenwriter, producer and politician. He w ...
and
Sergey Glazyev
Sergey Yurievich Glazyev (russian: Серге́й Юрьевич Глазьев) (born January 1, 1961, in Zaporozhye, Ukrainian SSR, USSR) is a Russian politician and economist, member of the National Financial Council of the Bank of Russia, ...
. In the 1990s it was a prominent democratically oriented party holding seats in the first
State Duma
The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper house ...
and was a member of the
Democratic Russia
Democratic Russia (Russian: Демократическая Россия, abbreviation: ДемРоссия ''DemRossiya'') was the generic name for several political entities that played a transformative role in Russia's transition from Communis ...
coalition. After the
coup in 1991, the party evolved from liberal
anticommunism
Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...
to
centrism
Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...
(1992–1993) and later to moderate Russian
nationalism
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
(1994–1995).
In 1991, the Democratic Party differed from other liberal/democratic organizations with its 'demopatriotic' stance (similar to Aksyuchits' Christian-Democratic Party and
Astafyev's
Constitutional Democrats
)
, newspaper = ''Rech''
, ideology = ConstitutionalismConstitutional monarchismLiberal democracyParliamentarism Political pluralismSocial liberalism
, position = Centre to centre-left
, international =
, colours ...
). The Democratic Party was opposed to the dissolution of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and criticised Latvia's and Estonia's policies towards their Russian-speaking minorities. After the signing of the Belovezhye treaty, the DP organized a number of demonstrations against the treaty.
In the 1993
parliamentary elections in Russia, the party received 5.52% of the Proportional Representation ballot vote (2,969,533 votes) as well as 2.1% (1,094,066 votes) of votes on individual district ballots. This translated into 14 and 7 seats, respectively, for a total of 21 seats in the 450-seat Duma.
The party's stance on
Yegor Gaidar
Yegor Timurovich Gaidar (russian: link=no, Его́р Тиму́рович Гайда́р; ; 19 March 1956 – 16 December 2009) was a Soviet and Russian economist, politician, and author, and was the Acting Prime Minister of Russia from 15 Jun ...
's economic reforms was confusing but developed more critical in the course of time. During the
1993 Russian constitutional crisis
The 1993 Russian constitutional crisis, also known as the 1993 October Coup, Black October, the Shooting of the White House or Ukaz 1400, was a political stand-off and a constitutional crisis between the Russian president Boris Yeltsin and t ...
, the party did not have a unanimous position. The party called for balloting both for the re-election of the President as well as of the legislative bodies on the referendum in April 1993; however, some of the party's leaders took the pro-Yeltsin side. Similarly, during the October 1993 events in Moscow, Travkin initially supported the so-called zero variants (annulling both Yeltsin's decree nr 1400 and the Supreme Soviet's subsequent decisions). On 4 October, Travkin supported Yeltsin's actions in suppressing the armed rebellion. The party took part in the
1993 Russian legislative election
Parliamentary elections were held in Russia on 12 December 1993. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1642 They were the first parliamentary elections in post-Soviet Russia and the only time to the Fed ...
and won 14 seats. The party split, however, on the issue of support for the
Chernomyrdin
Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin (russian: Ви́ктор Степа́нович Черномы́рдин, ; 9 April 19383 November 2010) was a Soviet and Russian politician and businessman. He was the Minister of Gas Industry of the Soviet Unio ...
cabinet. Travkin who took a more conciliatory stand lost the power struggle to Govorukhin and Glazyev, who were determined opponents of the government course, and Travkin consequently left the party and joined the
Our Home is Russia
Our or OUR may refer to:
* The possessive form of "we"
* Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany
* Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium
* Our, Jura, a commune in France
* Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a Politics of Jamaica#Regulator ...
movement.
Glazyev was made the leader in 1994 but was disbanded before the following year's
legislative election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
. The rump DRP split further between
Govorukhin and Glazyev supporters. In the
1995 Russian legislative election
Legislative election were held in Russia on 17 December 1995.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1642 At stake were the 450 seats in the State Duma (Gosudarstvennaya Duma), the lower house of the Fed ...
, the Glazyev wing took part within the
Congress of Russian Communities
The Congress of Russian Communities (CRC, russian: Конгресс русских общин, КРО, Kongress russkikh obschin, KRO) is a political organization in Russia. It was created in the early 1990s initially to promote the rights of ...
list, whilst Govorukhin formed his own list, called the Stanislav Govorukhin Bloc.
In the
1996 presidential election, the Democratic Party supported
Alexander Lebed
Lieutenant General Alexander Ivanovich Lebed (russian: Алекса́ндр Ива́нович Ле́бедь, link=no; 20 April 1950 – 28 April 2002) was a Soviet and Russian military officer and politician who held senior positions in the Ai ...
, though some of its regional leaders supported Yeltsin's campaign. In the
2000 presidential election, the party supported
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
.
In 2001 the party was reformed by
Mikhail Prusak
Mikhail Mikhaylovich Prusak (russian: Михаил Михайлович Прусак; born 23 February 1960) was the governor of Novgorod Oblast, Russia from 1991 to 2007.
Biography
Born and raised in Western Ukraine, in 1979 he graduated from ...
. In 2005
Mikhail Kasyanov
Mikhail Mikhailovich Kasyanov ( rus, link=no, Михаи́л Миха́йлович Касья́нов, , mʲɪxɐˈil mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ kɐˈsʲjanəf; born 8 December 1957) is a Russian politician who served as Prime Minister of Russia fr ...
tried to be elected chairman of the party, but lost to
Andrei Vladimirovich Bogdanov
Andrey Vladimirovich Bogdanov (Russian language, Russian Андре́й Влади́мирович Богда́нов) (born January 31, 1970) is a Russian politician. He is the chairman of the Communist Party of Social Justice and a prominent Fr ...
. In June 2007, the party proposed a referendum on joining the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
and in December it took part in the
legislative election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
, but it did not win any seats.
[2007 Russian legislative election results]
The DPR of that time was accused of being a virtual party used to draw away votes from the real
opposition parties
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...
.
17 September 2007, with the support of the
European People's Party
The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...
in the headquarters of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
in Brussels, hosted the XXI Congress of the Democratic Party of Russia, which adopted the decision on the accession of Russia to the European Union.
[
In the ]2007 Russian legislative election
Legislative elections were held in Russia on 2 December 2007. At stake were the 450 seats in the 5th State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly (the legislature). Eleven parties were included in the ballot, including Russia's largest ...
the party won 0.13% of votes, not breaking the 7% barrier, and thus no seats in the Duma. As of 1 January 2007, according to the Federal Registration Service, the party had 82,183 members.
According to the results of the regional elections of 2012, 2013, and 2014, the party failed to win in regional and city parliaments.
In 2014 Andrei Bogdanov head created by the participation of the Communist Party of Social Justice
The Russian Party of Freedom and Justice (RPSS; russian: Российская партия свободы и справедливости; РПСС, Rossiyskaya partiya svobody i spravedlivosti; RPSS) is a political party in Russia established a ...
, leader of the Democratic Party of Russia was elected his brother Timur Bogdanov.Andrey Bogdanov became the main Communist
/ref>
Electoral results
Presidential elections
Legislative elections
References
External links
Official website (Russian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Democratic Party Of Russia
1990 establishments in Russia
1990 establishments in the Soviet Union
2008 disestablishments in Russia
2012 establishments in Russia
Conservative parties in Russia
Liberal parties in Russia
Member parties of the European People's Party
Political parties disestablished in 2008
Political parties established in 1990
Political parties established in 2012
Political parties in the Soviet Union
Pro-European political parties in Russia
Registered political parties in Russia
Soviet opposition groups