Freedom, Progress, Security
Formation of Russian Political Parties
Communist Party in Crisis
After the Supreme Soviet issued a vote of no confidence to Leonid Brezhnev, and his cabinet was dismissed he rapidly lost authority. The Communist Party met and two attempts were made, one by Chernenko and one by Malenkov to take the position of the General Secretary. As soon as the new political freedoms were granted both contenders split from the party and the nation ended up with three communist parties.
Communist Party of Russia
The old hard-line Communists who are somewhat opposed to the reforms. Supporters of Stalin and Khruschev. They do not like the Czar and the new freedoms, but are contents as long as the Communist economy is in place.
Prominent Members:
Leonid Brezhnev - Leader of the CPR, an old Communist, held the position of the Premier shortly
Andrei Gromyko - brilliant negotiator, foreign minister under Khruschev and later under Brezhnev
Alexei Kosygin - the architect of the Soviet economy under Khruschev, favors relaxed economy and consumer production over industry
Gennady Zyuganov - a young Communist, but very active and looked to as the future leader of the CPR
National Bolshevik Party
The economic branch of the Communist Party. Shvernik and Malenkov are the founders. Unlike the CPR this faction supports the political freedoms, but favors a strongly regulated economy with an emphasis on industry to help make Russia a great industrial and military power.
Prominent Members:
Nikolay Shvernik - elected General Secretary, held the post of President of USSR under Khruschev
Georgy Malenkov - served as the General Secretary of the CPSU after Stalin and before Khruschev
Yuri Andropov - a strong Russian nationalist who served as the leader of KGB since Mikhail came to power
Eduard Shevardnadze - strong leader from Georgia, he served as a diplomat in a number of cases
People's Party of Russia
The reformist wing of the Communist Party. This party supports the new freedoms, but is also in favor of a less regulated economy. They say the economy should focus on light industry and consumer goods instead of the heavy industry and should serve to primarily benefit the people and not the state.
Prominent Members:
Konstantin Chernenko - a progressive Communist leader who worked closely with the previous government and served as a special envoy
Mikhail Gorbachev - a charismatic and popular young leader who gained the position of a minister in the Russian Federation within CER
Yevgeny Primakov - he is a noticeable figure within the Ministry of the Interior and want to reform it and relax the regulations
The Left
The political freedom allowed for a formation of a number of democratic parties, most of them were left-leaning and fit into this category.
Russian Social Democratic Labor Party
The industrialists who benefited from the Communist industrialization are the leaders of this party. Want to see continued industrialization but with more political and civil rights.
Prominent Members:
Alexandr Balkhovsky - an industrialist, Minister of Energy under Brezhnev
Vecheslav Sedov - an industrialist, Minister of Economy under Brezhnev
Sergey Ivanov - a military general who also has connections within the industial society of Russia
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
This is the nationalistic wing of the democrats. They want to make Russia great through democracy, and support a strong economy, democracy, but also a strong and powerful government to make Russia great.
Prominent Members:
Vladimir Zhirinovsky - a rather outspoken politician, whose ambitious statements made him noticable
Rashid Nurgaliev - a southerner from one of the Muslim republics who served as a KGB general there
Alexandr Bulganin - the minister of defense under Stalin, leader of the Coalition
Yabloko Russian Democratic Party
The most libertarian out of the democratic parties. Yabloko seeks democracy and freedom. They want to relax economy, focus on consumer goods, relax social and political laws and allow for free elections.
Prominent Members:
Grigory Yavlinsky - the founder of the party and known as Russia's most liberal democrat
Sergey Stepashin - a more conservative liberal who has his own interests in the consumer industry
Sergey Lavrov - holds a high position in the Foreign Ministry and worked closely with the Communists over the years
Federalists
The monarchy was quick to create parties that would support it, but even without its help politicians flocked to the throne and voiced their support for the new Czar of Russia.
United Russia
The party that is created by the Kremlin. Support the Czar and most desisions he makes. For strong central government, could be called Monarchists, do not have a clear economic platform.
Prominent Members:
Mikhail Smirnov - Czar of Russia
Vladimir Putin - one of the leading members of the party, a KGB Colonel
Georgy Zhukov - a WWII hero of Russia, currently a Marshall of Russia
Klement Voroshilov - another WWII hero who turned to politics, Marshall of Russia
Nikolay Kuznetsov - a naval military genius, Admiral of the Northern Fleet
Unity and Fatherland
A more liberal Federalist party. Support a very strong federal government, but they are in favor of relaxed social and political laws, and support a more socialist economy rather than a full blown communist one.
Prominent Members:
Boris Yeltsin - a young and enthusiastic leader who works very hard at gaining the respect of the Czar
Viktor Chernomyrdin - the leading socialist economist of Russia, he favors a more relaxed version of Communism
Ivan Bagramian - Marshall of Armenia, currently leader of the JCF
Alexander Lebed - a very bright and young general in the Russian military
The Right
Following the political freedom, there are of course people who disagree completely with Communism and Socialism and believe in a much more conservative system. These people do not have much support, and so flocked together into a political party.
The Union of Right Forces
The most right-winged party of Russia. These people want to see democracy as well as total political and very large social freedom. What makes them revolutionary is they want a capitalist, or at least a much more capitalist, economic system, and favor closer and friendlier relations with the other Capitalist world.
Prominent Members:
Boris Nemtsov - the founder of the party, a long critic of the government, been arrested numerous times
Yuri Luzhkov - an ex-construction worker, who is popular with the people, but very unpopular with the government
The elections are scheduled for next month, and then we will see how different the new Russian government will be.