| United Russia Единая Россия |
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| Leader | Vladimir Putin |
| Founded | 1 December 2001 |
| Headquarters | Moscow |
| Membership | 1.98 million |
| Ideology | Centrism, Statism, Populism |
| International affiliation | None |
| European affiliation | None |
| Official colours | White, Blue, Red |
| Website | |
| http://www.er.ru/ | |
| Politics of Russia Political parties Elections |
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United Russia (Russian: Единая Россия, Yedinaya Rossiya) is the major political party in the Russian Federation. United Russia supports President Dmitry Medvedev, and is currently the largest political party in the Russian Federation. On April 15, 2008, Vladimir Putin accepted the nomination to become chairman of the party.[1]
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History
United Russia was founded in April 2001 as a merger of centrist Fatherland - All Russia party led by Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov and the pro-government Unity Party of Russia led by emergency minister Sergey Shoigu. United Russia made rapid gains in federal and local elections due to the popularity of its leading figure, Vladimir Putin.
A number of ministers in Putin's and Medvedev's governments and in many regional governments and other senior government officials in Russia are members of the party. The long-time head of United Russia was Speaker of the State Duma and former Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov, elected party leader in November 2002.
The party signed a collaboration agreement in 2005 with Ukraine's "Party of the Regions".[2]
On April 15, 2008, Putin accepted a nomination to become the party's chairman.
By April 2008, United Russia was claiming 1.98 million members.[3] According to United Russia's register dated September 20, 2005, the party at that time had 2,600 local and 29,856 primary offices in all Russia's regions.
Structure
In April 2008 United Russia amended Section 7 of its charter, changing its heading from “Party Chairman” to “Chairman of the Party and Chairman of the Party’s Supreme Council.” Under the amendments, United Russia may introduce a supreme elective post in the party, the post of the party’s chairman, at the suggestion of Supreme Council and its chairman.
The Supreme Council, led by the Supreme Council chairman, defines the strategy for the development of the party.
The General Council has 152 members, is the foremost party platform in between party congresses and issues statements on important social or political questions. The presidium of the General Council is led by a secretary, consists of 23 members and leads the political activity of the party, for instance election campaigns or other programmatic publications.
United Russia runs local and regional offices in all parts of the Russian Federation, and also operates a foreign liaison office in Israel[4] through a deal with the Kadima party.
Party platform
According to the party's 2003 political manifesto, called The Path of National Success, the party's goal is to unite the responsible political forces of the country, aiming to minimize the differences between rich and poor, young and old, state, business and society. The economy should combine state regulation and market freedoms, with the benefits of further growth distributed for the most part to the less fortunate. The party rejects left-wing and right-wing ideologies in favour of "political centrism" that could unite all sections of society.[5]
The party follows the policies outlined by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The official party platform defines the policies as centrist, conservative[6],
At the beginning of 2005, a few activists of the party presented projects of creating two 'wings' and a 'centre' inside the party, representing different political directions inside the party. This discussion ended quickly after opposing reactions from the presidential administration. Since 2006, when Vladislav Surkov introduced the term Sovereign democracy, many figureheads of the party have taken usage of the term.
The former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev has characterised United Russia as a party of bureaucrats. He also described it as "the worst version of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union."[9]
Leaders
- Vladimir Putin, the chairman of the party and the incumbent Prime Minister of Russia
- Boris Gryzlov, former interior minister and current speaker of State Duma
- Yuri Luzhkov, Mayor of Moscow, founder of Fatherland party.
- Sergey Shoigu, the emergency minister, former leader of Unity party
- Mintimer Shaymiev, president of Tatarstan
- Vladislav Surkov, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the President
- Alexander Zhukov, Deputy Prime Minister
Election results
In the 2003 Duma elections it polled 37% of the party vote. In the 2004 presidential election United Russia supported Vladimir Putin and contributed to his victory. As of January 2005 it controls 305 seats out of 450, which gives it a Constitutional majority. United Russia members also make up 88 out 178 delegates in the Federation Council of Russia, (The Upper House of Parliament).
During the December 2007 election, the party was accused by voters and election monitoring group GOLOS of numerous election law violations banned in the Russian Constitution. [10] Russian authorities dismissed accusations as "emotional" rather than fact-based.[11] According to preliminary election results, United Russia won 64.24% of the popular vote in December 2007 elections.[12] This means that the party has sufficient power to change the constitution and pass all laws it deems necessary, unless these are vetoed by the Federation Council or the President of Russia.
Currently United Russia holds 315 of the 450 seats.[13]
The party supported the successful candidacy of Dmitry Medvedev in the 2008 presidential election.
During local elections of October 11, 2009 United Russia won a majority of seats in almost every Russian municipality. Opposition candidates claim they were hindered from campaigning for the elections and some were denied places on the ballot.[14][15] There are also accusations of widespread ballot stuffing and voter intimidation.[14]
Support for the party was 53% in a poll held in October 2009.[16]
See also
References
- ^ Putin to lead United Russia party, from the BBC. Published April 15, 2008; accessed April 24, 2008.
- ^ Party of Regions hopes for strengthening collaboration with 'United Russia' party, Kyiv Post (November 22, 2009)
- ^ United Russia Website.
- ^ Russian PM Putin to open official party branch in Israel
- ^ White, Stephen (2005). "The Political Parties". in White, Gitelman, Sakwa. Developments in Russian Politics. 6. Duke University Press. ISBN 0822335220.
- ^ http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=14557051&PageNum=0
- ^ a b http://www.edinros.ru/news.html?id=112414
- ^ e.g. http://fpc.org.uk/publications/151, http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/russia/2005/russia-050616-rianovosti02.htm
- ^ "Gorbachev alarm at Soviet echoes". BBC. 2009-03-06. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7927920.stm. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ Russians complain of being pressured to vote - International Herald Tribune
- ^ Federation Council Says Criticism of Past Elections Shall Be Treated Calmly, December 4, 2007, Rbc.ru
- ^ ЦИК: По итогам обработки 99,8% бюллетеней "ЕР" набрала 64,24% голосов на выборах в ГД.
- ^ http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/08/content_7219179.htm
- ^ a b Medvedev hails, opponents decry Kremlin party win, Reuters (October 12, 2009)
- ^ Pro-Kremlin party sweeps Moscow elections, Associated Press (October 12, 2009)
- ^ Poll ratings of Russia's Putin, Medvedev tumble, Kyiv Post (November 2, 2009)
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: United Russia |
- Official web site of the party (Russian)
- Official web site of the Duma fraction
- Youth wing of the party
- Forum of party supporters
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