1995 Russian legislative election

1995 Russian legislative election

←  1993 17 December 1995 1999  →
All 450 seats in the State Duma 226 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	64.38% ( 9.57 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Gennady Zyuganov Viktor Chernomyrdin Party CPRF NDR Leader since 14 February 1993 12 May 1995 Last election 42 seats, 11.55% New Seats won 157 55 Seat change 115 New Popular vote 15,432,963 7,009,291 Percentage 22.30% (PL) 10.13% (PL) Swing 10.75% New   Third party Fourth party   Leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky Grigory Yavlinsky Party LDPR Yabloko Leader since 13 December 1989 16 October 1993 Last election 64 seats, 21.35% 27 seats, 7.32% Seats won 51 45 Seat change 13 18 Popular vote 7,737,431 4,767,384 Percentage 11.18% (PL) 6.89% (PL) Swing 10.17% 0.43%
Winning party by region
Chairman of the State Duma before election Ivan Rybkin Ivan Rybkin Bloc Elected Chairman of the State Duma Gennadiy Seleznyov CPRF

Legislative election was held in Russia on 17 December 1995. ^[1] At stake were the 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly.

Electoral system

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.

Political blocs

Political parties and blocs in the 1995 election ^[2]

#	Bloc		Abbr.	First troika	Political position	Ideologies
1		Women of Russia	ZhR	Alevtina Fedulova • Ekaterina Lakhova • Galina Klimantova	Centre	Women's rights / Pacifism
2		Social Patriotic Movement "Derzhava"	Derzhava	Alexander Rutskoy • Viktor Kobelev • Konstantin Dushenov	Right-wing	Russian nationalism / Social conservatism
3		Social Political Movement "Duma-96"	Duma-96	Vladimir Burenin • Mikhail Simonov • Georgy Kondratyev	Centre	Centrism / Conservatism
4		Transformation of the Fatherland Transformation of the Fatherland, Free Democratic Party, All-Russian Party for Safety of Man	PO	Eduard Rossel • Yury Nozhikov • Viktor Yakimov	Centre	Regionalism / Autonomism
5		Tikhonov–Tupolev–Tikhonov Consolidation Party, League of Cooperatives and Entrepreneurs	TTT	Alexander Tikhonov • Aleksey Tupolev • Viktor Tikhonov	Centre	Centrism
6		Russian All-People's Movement	ROD	Alexander Bozhenov • Valery Moshnyakov • Vladimir Platonov	Centre	Cossacks interests
7		All-Russian Muslim Social Movement "Nur"	NUR	Halit Yakhin • Vafa Yarullin • Anver Shagidullin	Centre	Muslim interests / Islamic democracy
8		Federal Democratic Movement	FDD	Oleg Novikov • Oleg Kalugin • Rimma Kazakova	Centre	Federalism
9		Cause of Peter the First [3] Tourist and Sports Union of Russia, Union of TV and Radio Broadcasting Workers, Consumer Society of Automobile Equipment	DPP	Valentin Dikul • Vadim Voevodin • Yan Koltunov	Right-wing	National conservatism / Monarchism
10		Interethnic Union Congress of Civic Concord, RHDP, Association of Koreans in Russia	MNS	Abdulah Mikitaev • Makhmut Gareev • Alexander Zaytsev	Centre	Multiculturalism
11		Socio-Political Movement "Stable Russia"	SR	Oleg Petrov • Elina Bystritskaya • Alexander Gorlov	Centre-right	Conservatism
12		Frontier Generations Socio-Political Youth Movement, MZhK Union of Russia	PR	Dmitry Solonnikov • Nikolay Pelepeshin • Marat Bariev	Centre	Youth politics
13		My Fatherland	MO	Boris Gromov • Stanislav Shatalin • Joseph Kobzon	Centre-left	Social democracy
14		For the Motherland! RSVA, NPP, New Russia	ZR	Vladimir Polevanov • Yevgeny Podkolzin • Eduard Baltin	Right-wing	Conservatism / Anti-Reformism
15		Common Cause Common Cause, Human Circle	OD	Irina Khakamada • Rolan Bykov • Vladimir Dzhanibekov	Centre-right	Liberalism
16		Bloc of Independents ODC, All-Russian Tatar Cultural and Educational Center	BN	Yevgeny Fyodorov • Ilya Roitman • Vladimir Komchatov	Centre-right	Conservatism
17		Our Home – Russia	NDR	Viktor Chernomyrdin • Nikita Mikhalkov • Lev Rokhlin	Centre-right	Liberal conservatism / Fiscal conservatism
18		Pamfilova–Gurov–Lysenko RPRF, Young Republicans Union	PGL	Ella Pamfilova • Alexander Gurov • Vladimir Lysenko	Centre-right	Classical liberalism / Atlanticism
19		"Yabloko" Social Association	Yabloko	Grigory Yavlinsky • Vladimir Lukin • Tatiana Yarygina	Centre-left	Social democracy / Social liberalism
20		Forward, Russia!	VR	Boris Fyodorov • Bela Denisenko • Alexander Vladislavlev	Centre-right	Liberal democracy / Liberal conservatism
21		89 Regions of Russia VR, ANP	89	Pavel Medvedev (only elected deputy)	Centre	Regionalism
22		Ecological Party of Russia "KEDR"	KEDR	Anatoly Panfilov • Leonid Yakubovich • Artyom Tarasov	Centre	Green politics / Agrarianism
23		Democratic Choice of Russia – United Democrats DVR, KPR, RPSD, KNOR	DVR-OD	Yegor Gaidar • Sergei Kovalev • Lidiya Fedoseyeva-Shukshina	Centre-right	Liberal conservatism / Anti-communism
24		Party of Russian Unity and Accord	PRES	Sergey Shakhray • Valery Bykov • Vladimir Ivankov	Centre-right	Moderate liberalism / Conservatism / Regionalism
25		Communist Party of the Russian Federation	CPRF	Gennady Zyuganov • Svetlana Goryacheva • Aman Tuleyev	Left-wing to far-left	Communism / Marxism–Leninism / Left-wing nationalism
26		Stanislav Govorukhin Bloc All-Russian Trade Union Association, People's Alliance, RHDD	BSG	Stanislav Govorukhin • Oleg Rumyantsev • Viktor Aksyuchits	Right-wing	Statism / Conservatism
27		Association of Lawyers of Russia	AAR	Alexey Malayev • Gasan Mirzoyev • Anatoly Fedoseev	Centre	Rule of law
28		National Republican Party of Russia	NRPR	Nikolay Lysenko • Nikolay Pavlov • Konstantin Ovchinnikov	Far-right	Solzhenitsynism / Russian ultranationalism
29		Social Democrats SDS, Young Social Democrats of Russia, RDDR	SD	Gavriil Popov • Vasily Lipitsky • Oleg Bogomolov	Centre-left	Social democracy
30		Power to the People! ROS, Mothers for Social Justice	VN	Nikolai Ryzhkov • Sergey Baburin • Elena Shuvalova	Right-wing	Patriotism / Social conservatism / Pochvennichestvo
31		Congress of Russian Communities	KRO	Yury Skokov • Alexander Lebed • Sergey Glazyev	Right-wing to far-right	Russian nationalism / National conservatism
32		Trade Unions and Industrialists – Union of Labour ROPP, Trade Unions of Russia to the Polls	ST	Vladimir Scherbakov • Mikhail Shmakov • Arkady Volsky	Centre-left	Labourism / Industrialism
33		Liberal Democratic Party of Russia	LDPR	Vladimir Zhirinovsky • Sergey Abeltsev • Alexander Vengerovsky	Right-wing to far-right	Right-wing populism / Pan-Slavism
34		Bloc of Djuna Association of Military Journalists, AFZPP, ADVN, RKSP	Djuna	Eugenia Davitashvili • Andrey Volkov • Aleksandr Pankratov-Chyorny	Centre	Populism
35		Party of Workers' Self-Government	PST	Svyatoslav Fyodorov • Alexey Kazannik • Aleksandr Porokhovshchikov	Centre-left	Social democracy
36		Communists – Labour Russia – For the Soviet Union RKRP, RPK	KTR	Viktor Tyulkin • Anatoly Kryuchkov • Viktor Anpilov	Far-left	Communism / Marxism–Leninism / Anti-revisionism
37		Beer Lovers Party	PLP	Konstantin Kalachyov • Dmitry Shestakov • Andrey Palchevsky	Big tent	Joke party / Protectionism / Anti-establishment
38		Ivan Rybkin Bloc "Russia" People's Movement, Regions of Russia, RSM, Accord Movement, Union of Realists	BIR	Ivan Rybkin • Yury Petrov • Artur Chilingarov	Centre-left	Agrarianism / Social democracy
39		Party of Economic Freedom	PES	Konstantin Borovoi • Leonid Nekrasov • Vladimir Kovalyonok	Centre-right	Liberalism / Neoconservatism / Economic liberalism
40		People's Union	NS	Vladimir Lukyanov • Dmitry Galagan • Gennady Mironov	Big tent	Interests of defrauded depositors
41		Agrarian Party of Russia	APR	Mikhail Lapshin • Aleksandr Nazarchuk • Vasily Starodubtsev	Left-wing	Agrarian socialism / Collectivism
42		Christian Democratic Union – Christians of Russia	HDS	Vitaly Savitsky • Tatiana Ivanova • Alexander Kisilyov	Centre-right	Christian democracy
43		Union of Workers of Housing and Communal Services	SRZhKKh	Leonid Chernyshov • Pyotr Suvorov • Valery Avdeyev	Big tent	ZhKKh workers' interests

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 1995. ^[4] 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 – 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 federal center and regional elites made only ephemeral commitments to Our Home – Russia. ^{[5] [6]}

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		Party-list			Constituency			Total seats	+/–
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Communist Party	15,432,963	22.73	99	8,636,392	12.78	58	157	+115
	Liberal Democratic Party	7,737,431	11.40	50	3,801,971	5.63	1	51	–11
	Our Home – Russia	7,009,291	10.33	45	3,808,745	5.64	10	55	New
	Yabloko	4,767,384	7.02	31	2,209,945	3.27	14	45	+18
	Women of Russia	3,188,813	4.70	0	712,072	1.05	3	3	–21
	Communists and Working Russia for the Soviet Union	3,137,406	4.62	0	1,276,655	1.89	1	1	New
	Congress of Russian Communities	2,980,137	4.39	0	1,987,665	2.94	5	5	New
	Party of Workers' Self-Government	2,756,954	4.06	0	475,007	0.70	1	1	New
	Democratic Choice of Russia – United Democrats	2,674,084	3.94	0	1,819,330	2.69	9	9	–53
	Agrarian Party of Russia	2,613,127	3.85	0	4,066,214	6.02	20	20	–18
	Derzhava	1,781,233	2.62	0	420,860	0.62	0	0	New
	Forward, Russia!	1,343,428	1.98	0	1,054,577	1.56	3	3	New
	Power to the People	1,112,873	1.64	0	1,345,905	1.99	9	9	New
	Pamfilova–Gurov–Lysenko	1,106,812	1.63	0	476,721	0.71	2	2	New
	Trade Unions and Industrialists – Union of Labour	1,076,072	1.59	0	584,063	0.86	1	1	New
	Environmental Party of Russia "Kedr"	962,195	1.42	0	304,896	0.45	0	0	0
	Ivan Rybkin Bloc	769,259	1.13	0	1,073,580	1.59	3	3	New
	Stanislav Govorukhin Bloc	688,496	1.01	0	483,281	0.72	1	1	New
	My Fatherland	496,276	0.73	0	351,911	0.52	1	1	New
	Common Cause	472,615	0.70	0	148,584	0.22	1	1	New
	Beer Lovers Party	428,727	0.63	0	57,946	0.09	0	0	New
	All Russian Muslim Public Movement "Nur"	393,513	0.58	0	49,689	0.07	0	0	New
	Transformation of the Fatherland	339,654	0.50	0	227,822	0.34	1	1	New
	National Republican Party	331,700	0.49	0	27,197	0.04	0	0	New
	Block of Djuna	323,232	0.48	0				0	New
	Party of Russian Unity and Accord	245,977	0.36	0	285,654	0.42	1	1	–22
	Russian Lawyers' Association	242,966	0.36	0	96,046	0.14	0	0	New
	For the Motherland!	194,254	0.29	0	213,723	0.32	0	0	New
	Christian-Democratic Union – Christians of Russia	191,446	0.28	0	102,335	0.15	0	0	New
	Cause of Peter the First	145,704	0.21	0	51,928	0.08	0	0	New
	People's Union	130,728	0.19	0	70,685	0.10	0	0	New
	Tikhonov–Tupolev–Tikhonov Bloc	102,039	0.15	0	65,458	0.10	0	0	New
	Russian Union of Workers of ZhKKh	97,274	0.14	0	115,386	0.17	0	0	New
	Social Democrats	88,642	0.13	0	233,269	0.35	0	0	New
	Party of Economic Freedom	88,416	0.13	0	199,150	0.29	1	1	New
	Russian All-People's Movement	86,422	0.13	0	224,779	0.33	0	0	New
	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	New
	Sociopolitical Movement "Stable Russia"	81,285	0.12	0	159,226	0.24	0	0	New
	Duma-96	55,897	0.08	0	108,672	0.16	0	0	New
	Frontier Generations	44,202	0.07	0	13,429	0.02	0	0	New
	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	New
	All-Russian Sociopolitical Movement of Transport Workers				162,263	0.24	0	0	New
	Democratic Russia and Free Trade-Unions				158,040	0.23	0	0	New
	Sociopolitical Movement "Education is Russia's Future"				129,399	0.19	0	0	New
	Union of Patriots				118,441	0.18	0	0	New
	Union of Russian Moslems				65,688	0.10	0	0	New
	Party "Union of Communists"				62,181	0.09	0	0	New
	Party of Supporters of Tax Reduction				61,519	0.09	0	0	New
	Party "Democratic Alternative"				61,252	0.09	0	0	New
	Conservative Party				57,351	0.08	0	0	New
	Russian Party				43,221	0.06	0	0	New
	Union of Patriotic Orthodox Organisations				42,269	0.06	0	0	New
	Party "Economic Alternative"				37,622	0.06	0	0	New
	We are Serving for Russia!				35,535	0.05	0	0	New
	League of Independent Scientists				28,666	0.04	0	0	New
	Social Alliance "Revival"				27,032	0.04	0	0	New
	Russian Union of Local Self-Government				21,427	0.03	0	0	New
	Our Future				18,488	0.03	0	0	New
	Faith, Labour, Conscience				14,639	0.02	0	0	New
	Russian Party of Car Owners				8,088	0.01	0	0	New
	People's Salvation Front				1,881	0.00	0	0	New
	Workers' Collectives and Greens for the Union of Co-Owners				1,442	0.00	0	0	New
	European Liberal Democratic Party				154	0.00	0	0	New
	Independents				21,620,835	31.99	77	77	–58
Against all		1,918,151	2.83	–	6,660,495	9.85	–	–	–
Total		67,884,200	100.00	225	67,585,707	100.00	225	450	0
Valid votes		67,884,200	98.09		67,585,707	97.71
Invalid/blank votes		1,320,619	1.91		1,582,227	2.29
Total votes		69,204,819	100.00		69,167,934	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		107,496,856	64.38		107,496,856	64.34
Source: University of Essex, Nohlen & Stöver

Parliamentary groups

See also: 2nd State Duma

Parliamentary group		Leader	Seats (Jan.'96)
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

1. Nohlen & Stöver 2010, p. 1642.
2. Данные протоколов территориальных избирательных комиссий об итогах голосования по федеральному округу
3. Also known as the "38 Words" bloc since its full name included a 38-word long list of member parties.
4. Belin & Orttung 1997, pp. 34–36.
5. Hale 2006, pp. 208–209.
6. McFaul 2001, p. 205.

Sources

• Belin, Laura; Orttung, Robert W. (1997). The Russian Parliamentary Elections of 1995: The Battle for the Duma. ISBN   978-0765600844.
• Hale, Henry E. (2006). Why Not Parties in Russia?: Democracy, Federalism, and the State. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0521844093.
• McFaul, Michael (2001). Russia's Unfinished Revolution: Political Change from Gorbachev to Putin. Cornell University Press. ISBN   978-0801488146.
• Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7.