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| == History == | == History == | ||
| === Creation === | === Creation === | ||
| A Just Russia was created on 28 October 2006 via a merger of three parties: ], ] and the ]. Of these, the nationalist ''Rodina'' (Motherland) was the largest, having won 9% of the popular vote in the ]. At the time of the merger Rodina had 37 seats in the Duma. Party of Pensioners had gained 3% of the vote, failing the to cross the 5% election threshold; it had also been weakened by infighting in its leadership. The ] Party of Life, led by ], was still relatively young and had only won one regional election. Rodina, being the only party of the three with seats in the Duma, was dominant party in the unification process. In simultaneous conventions held in ] on 26 August 2006, Party of Life and the Party of Pensioners decided to join Rodina.<ref name="platform1"/> Two months later, on 28 October 2006, the new party held its founding congress, in which it was decided to change the party's name to A Just Russia.<ref name="history"> A Just Russia</ref> Mironov was elected the new party's chairman; Rodina's former chairman ] became the secretary of the central council presidium, while the leader of the Party of Pensioners, ], was appointed secretary of the political council.<ref name="platform1"> The School of Russian and Asian Studies</ref><ref name="mcfaul">{{cite book |last1=McFaul |first1=Michael |last2=Stoner-Weiss |first2=Kathryn |editor1-first=Stephen |editor1-last=White |title=Developments in Russian Politics 7|year=2010 |publisher=Palgrave McMillan |location=New York |language=English |isbn=9780230224490 |chapter=Elections and Voters}}</ref> | A Just Russia was created on 28 October 2006 via a merger of three parties: ], ] and the ]. Of these, the nationalist ''Rodina'' (Motherland) was the largest, having won 9% of the popular vote in the ]. At the time of the merger Rodina had 37 seats in the Duma. Party of Pensioners had gained 3% of the vote, failing the to cross the 5% election threshold; it had also been weakened by infighting in its leadership. The ] Party of Life, led by ], was still relatively young and had only won one regional election. Rodina, being the only party of the three with seats in the Duma, was dominant party in the unification process. In simultaneous conventions held in ] on 26 August 2006, Party of Life and the Party of Pensioners decided to join Rodina.<ref name="platform1"/> Two months later, on 28 October 2006, the new party held its founding congress, in which it was decided to change the party's name to A Just Russia.<ref name="history"> A Just Russia</ref> Mironov was elected the new party's chairman; Rodina's former chairman ] became the secretary of the central council presidium, while the leader of the Party of Pensioners, ], was appointed secretary of the political council.<ref name="platform1"> The School of Russian and Asian Studies</ref><ref name="mcfaul">{{cite book |last1=McFaul |first1=Michael |last2=Stoner-Weiss |first2=Kathryn |editor1-first=Stephen |editor1-last=White |title=Developments in Russian Politics 7|year=2010 |publisher=Palgrave McMillan |location=New York |language=English |isbn=9780230224490 |chapter=Elections and Voters}}</ref> The next year, A Just Russia expanded further, absorbing 3 additional small parties in 2007. These included the ],<ref></ref>, ] and the ].<ref name="history"/> | ||
| At the party's founding convention, chairman Sergey Mironov expressed support for the direction given to the country by President ], claiming that "we will not allow anyone to veer from it after Putin leaves his post in 2008." At the same time, he harshly criticised ] and what he called the largest party's "monopoly" of the nation's political, economic and administrative resources.<ref name="sptimes_founding"/> Mironov characterised A Just Russia as a new "leftist political force" and a "hard opposition",<ref></ref> saying that "if United Russia is the party of power, we will become the party of the people".<ref name="sptimes_founding"> St Petersburg Times, 31 October 2006</ref> | At the party's founding convention, chairman Sergey Mironov expressed support for the direction given to the country by President ], claiming that "we will not allow anyone to veer from it after Putin leaves his post in 2008." At the same time, he harshly criticised ] and what he called the largest party's "monopoly" of the nation's political, economic and administrative resources.<ref name="sptimes_founding"/> Mironov characterised A Just Russia as a new "leftist political force" and a "hard opposition",<ref></ref> saying that "if United Russia is the party of power, we will become the party of the people".<ref name="sptimes_founding"> St Petersburg Times, 31 October 2006</ref> | ||
| A Just Russia continued to expand, absorbing further 3 small parties in 2007. These included the ],<ref></ref>, ] and the ].<ref name="history"/> | |||
| According to Professor ], the creation of A Just Russia was supported by the ] faction in the ]; the aim was to create a more left-oriented alternative to United Russia. The leading force behind United Russia, ], opposed the creation of the new party.<ref>Sakwa 2011, p.19</ref> | According to Professor ], the creation of A Just Russia was supported by the ] faction in the ]; the aim was to create a more left-oriented alternative to United Russia. The leading force behind United Russia, ], opposed the creation of the new party.<ref>Sakwa 2011, p.19</ref> | ||
Revision as of 10:06, 25 May 2011
| A Just Russia Справедливая Россия | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Nikolai Levichev |
| Founded | October 28, 2006 |
| Headquarters | Moscow |
| Ideology | Social democracy |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| European affiliation | None |
| International affiliation | Socialist International (Observer) |
| Colours | White, Blue, Red |
| Seats in the State Duma | 38 / 450 |
| Website | |
| http://www.spravedlivo.ru | |
A Just Russia, (Template:Lang-ru, СР, Spravedlivaya Rossiya, SR), also translated as Fair Russia, is a social democratic political party in Russia. It was formed on October 28, 2006, as a merger of Rodina, the Russian Party of Life and the Russian Pensioners' Party. Party chairman is Nikolai Levichev.
History
Creation
A Just Russia was created on 28 October 2006 via a merger of three parties: Rodina, Party of Life and the Party of Pensioners. Of these, the nationalist Rodina (Motherland) was the largest, having won 9% of the popular vote in the 2003 Duma elections. At the time of the merger Rodina had 37 seats in the Duma. Party of Pensioners had gained 3% of the vote, failing the to cross the 5% election threshold; it had also been weakened by infighting in its leadership. The social-democratic Party of Life, led by Sergey Mironov, was still relatively young and had only won one regional election. Rodina, being the only party of the three with seats in the Duma, was dominant party in the unification process. In simultaneous conventions held in Moscow on 26 August 2006, Party of Life and the Party of Pensioners decided to join Rodina. Two months later, on 28 October 2006, the new party held its founding congress, in which it was decided to change the party's name to A Just Russia. Mironov was elected the new party's chairman; Rodina's former chairman Alexander Babakov became the secretary of the central council presidium, while the leader of the Party of Pensioners, Igor Zotov, was appointed secretary of the political council. The next year, A Just Russia expanded further, absorbing 3 additional small parties in 2007. These included the People's Party,, Party of Entrepreneurship Development and the Party of Constitutional Democrats.
At the party's founding convention, chairman Sergey Mironov expressed support for the direction given to the country by President Vladimir Putin, claiming that "we will not allow anyone to veer from it after Putin leaves his post in 2008." At the same time, he harshly criticised United Russia and what he called the largest party's "monopoly" of the nation's political, economic and administrative resources. Mironov characterised A Just Russia as a new "leftist political force" and a "hard opposition", saying that "if United Russia is the party of power, we will become the party of the people".
According to Professor Richard Sakwa, the creation of A Just Russia was supported by the siloviki faction in the Presidential administration; the aim was to create a more left-oriented alternative to United Russia. The leading force behind United Russia, Vladislav Surkov, opposed the creation of the new party.
First election successess
In October 2006, shortly after its creation, A Just Russia participated in its first elections, when the party's candidate Dmitry Kuzmin won the mayoral race in Samara. The March 2007 regional elections were dominated by United Russia, but A Just Russia also put up a strong performance. In particular, the new party won a majority in Stavropol Krai.
The emergence of A Just Russia changed Russia's political landscape and demonstrated that the country's leadership had been split between two parties. United Russia supporters in the presidential administration grew wary of the challenge posed by A Just Russia, worrying that United Russia would lose its position as "the president's party". Before the 2007 Duma elections, the Kremlin had withdrawn its support of A Just Russia, and threw its weight entirely behind United Russia.
In May 2007, A Just Russia's chairman Sergey Mironov proposed a merger between his party and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, in order to create a new unified socialist party. Mironov invited all "honest socialists" to join the party. However, his proposal was rejected by Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the CPRF, who claimed that A Just Russia's claim to be a leftist party was a charade.
2007 Duma elections
In the 2007 Duma elections, A Just Russia received 5,383,639 votes (7.74%), becoming the fourth party to cross the 7% election threshold, after United Russia, Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Liberal Democratic Party of Russia. As a result, A Just Russia got 38 of the 350 seats (8.4%) in the Duma.
Events in 2008
On April 25, 2008, A Just Russia held its third annual congress, where the party expelled thousands of members who were not aware that they were members. The party's charter was amended at the congress to make mergers easier. The congress also disbanded the party's politburo and transferred its functions to the Central Council. The politburo's chairman, Nikolai Levichev who also heads A Just Russia's faction in the State Duma, was elected as the council's first secretary.
The United Socialist Party of Russia and the Russian Ecological Party "The Greens" merged into the party in 2008.
Platform
The ideology of A Just Russia is social democracy, and it takes centre-left position in the political spectrum.
Criticism
 | This article's "criticism" or "controversy" section may compromise the article's neutrality. Please help rewrite or integrate negative information to other sections through discussion on the talk page. (November 2010) |
While it wishes to challenge United Russia, it supported the former President Vladimir Putin and endorsed Dmitry Medvedev during the 2008 presidential election and has been criticised as being an opposition party in name only. Mironov, for his part, has argued that the creation of A Just Russia marks the establishment of a two-party system in Russia, and that his new group will provide a much-needed check on United Russia's current hegemony over the Duma's proceedings.
Following the 2008 elections, the position of the party regarding the presidential elections has changed. In 2011, Mironov stated that A Just Russia will not support any United Russia nominee, whether Medvedev, Putin or another candidate, during the 2012 presidential election. According to Moskovsky Komsomolets, A Just Russia is planning to nominate its own candidate, most likely Oksana Dmitriyeva, currently a member of the Duma for Saint Petersburg.
In 2011, Mironov said that the claim of A Just Russia being "a fake opposition" was a myth launched by United Russia.
The party has been accused by Russian human rights organisations of hosting radical nationalist and antisemitic politicians, though the party rejects these claims.
Electoral results
A Just Russia did well in regional elections held in Russia on Sunday March 11, 2007 but didn't manage to become the second most voted party, a place that is still held by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. It scored second place in six of the fourteen regions where elections were taking place, and took first place in Stavropol Krai. Preliminary results showed that the party won an average of 15% across the fourteen regions arriving third after CPRF's 16% and United Russia's 45%.
Opinion polls in August found that A Just Russia's popularity had increased from seven percent to eleven percent, assuring it of representation at the 2007 Russian parliamentary election, mainly at the expense of the LDPR. On December 8, 2007, it was announced that the party has obtained 38 seats at the Duma.
International cooperation
A Just Russia is an observer party in the Socialist International, a member of the Forum of Socialists of the Commonwealth of Independent States, cooperates with several social democratic and socialist organisations around the world, including the Party of European Socialists and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, a European Parliament group.
See also
 | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2010) |
External links
References
- http://www.socialistinternational.org/viewArticle.cfm?ArticlePageID=931
- http://www.spravedlivo.ru/english/
- http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/0/28.html?id_issue=11623944
- http://www.tass.ru/eng/level2.html?NewsID=10932904&PageNum=0
- ^ A Fair and Just Russia The Political Platform of Russia's Social Democrats Part 1: Philosopy and the Current State of Russia The School of Russian and Asian Studies
- ^ History A Just Russia
- McFaul, Michael; Stoner-Weiss, Kathryn (2010). "Elections and Voters". In White, Stephen (ed.). Developments in Russian Politics 7. New York: Palgrave McMillan. ISBN 9780230224490.
- People's Daily Online - Two Russian left-leaning parties unite
- ^ New 'Just Russia' Party Says Putin Knows Best St Petersburg Times, 31 October 2006
- Russia: Parties Unite Into Nominal Opposition Force
- Sakwa 2011, p.19
- Sakwa 2011, p.66
- Sakwa 2011, p.66
- http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11579806&PageNum=0
- http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070529/66284043.html
- FINAL RESULT OF THE DUMA ELECTION, 2 DECEMBER 2007 Levada Center
- http://www.sras.org/fair_and_just_russia
- http://greenparty.ru/news_id.php?id=2009062616445229
- http://www.times.spb.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=19303
- http://www.mk.ru/politics/article/2011/02/07/563714-spravedlivaya-rossiya-opredelilas-s-kandidatom-v-prezidentyi.html
- http://kp.ru/daily/25643.4/807229/
- http://www.memo.ru/2009/02/13/1ec.doc Основные тенденции развития радикального национализма в России
- http://xeno.sova-center.ru/45A29F2/9DF6F26
- RIA Novosti - Russia - 4-5 parties may win Duma elections in December - analysts