Liberal Democratic Party of Russia

{{stack|File:Logo of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (old).svg}}

{{see also|Liberal Democratic Party of the Soviet Union}}

An effectively multi-party system emerged in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s in wake of Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms. A formal law for this purpose was introduced in October 1990. In April 1991, the Liberal Democratic Party of the Soviet Union (LDPSU) became the second officially registered political party in the country.{{cite book|last=White|first=Stephen|title=Developments in Russian Politics |editor=White |editor2=Gitelman |editor3=Sakwa|publisher=Duke University Press|year=2005|volume=6|chapter=The Political Parties|isbn=0-8223-3522-0}}

Former KGB General Filipp Bobkov has stated that "in line with Zubatov's ideas," the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union "proposed creating a pseudo-party controlled by the KGB" to direct the interests and sentiments of certain social groups, however he said that he was against the idea. Former Politburo member Alexander Yakovlev described how KGB director Vladimir Kryuchkov proposed the creation of the party with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at a meeting.{{cite web|url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2014/545703/EPRS_ATA(2014)545703_REV1_EN.pdf|title=Russia: political parties in a 'managed democracy'|website=European Parliament|date=December 2014}} He also stated that the Central Committee took over which led to the creation of the Liberal Democratic Party. Yakovlev called the creation of the party a joint effort of the Central Committee and the KGB.Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev Time of darkness, Moscow, 2003, {{ISBN|5-85646-097-9}}, page 574 ({{langx|ru|Яковлев А. Сумерки. Москва: Материк 2003 г.}}, [http://www.pseudology.org/democracy/YakovlevSumerki.pdf www.pseudology.org){{cite news |last1=Bidder |first1=Benjamin |title=Nuclear Threats and Busty Ladies in the Race for Second-Place in Russia |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/zhirinovsky-s-follies-nuclear-threats-and-busty-ladies-in-the-race-for-second-place-in-russia-a-538403.html |access-date=14 February 2021 |work=Der Spiegel |date=28 February 2008}} In the early 1990s, Mayor of Saint Petersburg, Anatoly Sobchak claimed that party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky was a "reserve" KGB captain, and a number of key supporters in the LDPR leadership quit the party, accusing Zhirinovsky of KGB ties.{{cite news |last1=Anderson |first1=Jack |last2=Binstein |first2=Michael |title=SHADOWS FROM ZHIRINOVSKY'S PAST |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1994/01/31/shadows-from-zhirinovskys-past/e6b8e45a-43e3-4438-80d1-28084166e6e1/ |access-date=19 February 2021 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=31 January 1994}}

The outspoken leader of the party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, an effective media performer, gained 8% of votes during the 1991 presidential elections.{{cite book|last1=Hale|first1=Henry E.|editor1-first=Stephen|editor1-last=White|title=Developments in Russian Politics 7|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=New York|year=2010|isbn=978-0-230-22449-0|chapter=Russia's political parties and their substitutes}} He also supported the August 1991 coup attempt.{{cite web|url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3082418|title=Либерально-демократическая партия России|website=Kommersant|date=12 September 2016}}

In 1992, the LDPSU broke apart into its regional offsprings and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) was created as its successor in Russia.

In the 1993 Duma elections, the pro-reform party supporting President Boris Yeltsin, Russia's Choice, received only 15% of the vote and the new Communist Party of the Russian Federation only 12.4%. The LDPR emerged as the winner with 22.9% of the popular vote. In effect, the Russian population was divided between those who supported Yeltsin's reforms and to those who did not. It is regarded that the popularity of Zhirinovsky and his party arose from the electorate's dissatisfaction with Yeltsin and their desire for a non-communist solution.{{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 Macmillan|location=New York|isbn=978-0-230-22449-0|chapter=Elections and Voters}}

Zhirinovsky is credited with having successfully identified the problems of ordinary Russians and offering simple remedies to solve them. For example, he has suggested that all leaders of organized crime should be shot and all Chechens deported from Russia. Zhirinovsky also called for territorial expansion of Russia. Many of Zhirinovsky's views are highly controversial and the LDPR's success in the early 1990s shocked observers both inside and outside Russia.

The Duma elected in 1993 was as an interim solution and its mandate expired in 1995. During the two years, Zhirinovsky's popularity waned and his party's support was halved in the 1995 elections (11.2%). The Communists emerged as the winners, with 22.3% of the vote.

In the presidential elections of 1996, the LDPR nominated Vladimir Zhirinovsky as a candidate. Zhirinovsky gained 5.7% of the votes in the first round.

In 1999, the party participated in the elections as a "Bloc of Zhirinovsky" since the Central Election Commission initially refused to register in the election lists of LDPR, which received 6.0% of the votes.{{cite web|url=http://www.panorama.ru/works/vybory/index.html|title=ИТОГИ ВЫБОРОВ В ГОСУДАРСТВЕННУЮ ДУМУ|website=panorama.ru|access-date=15 September 2017}} In the 3rd State Duma, Zhirinovsky took up the post of Deputy Chair of the State Duma and the post of the head of the faction occupied by his son Igor Lebedev.

In the presidential election of 2000, the party has again put forward Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who won 2.7% of votes.

In the parliamentary elections of 2003, the party won 11.5% of the votes and received 36 seats.

In the 2004 presidential election, the LDPR nominated Oleg Malyshkin. The party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky was hoping to take the post of Prime Minister of Russia in case of Malyshkin's victory on elections. In the end, Malyshkin scored 2% of votes, having lost the election.{{cite web|url=http://www.nv.kz/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1386|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927235954/http://www.nv.kz/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1386|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 September 2007|title=По отработанному сценарию|access-date=15 September 2017}}

In the legislative elections in 2007, the LDPR received 5,660,823 votes (8.14%) and received 40 seats in the State Duma.

In the 2008 presidential election, Zhirinovsky was re-nominated as a candidate and scored 9.4% of the vote.

File:LDPR rally 2012-02-04 (8).jpg

In the parliamentary elections of 2011, the party scored 11.7% of the vote and won 56 seats. In the 6th State Duma, Vladimir Zhirinovsky returned to the post of head of the LDPR faction and his son Igor Lebedev has held the position of Vice Chairman of the State Duma. In these elections the LDPR gained over one-fifth of votes in Russian Far East (e. g. Primorsky Krai).

In the presidential elections 2012, the party again put forward by Zhirinovsky, whose campaign slogan for 2012 was "Vote Zhirinovsky, or things will get worse".{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16750990|title=Profiles of Russia's 2012 presidential election candidates|date=1 March 2012|publisher=BBC|access-date=15 September 2017}} Proshka, a donkey owned by Zhirinovsky, became prominent during the presidential campaign when he was filmed in an election advertisement video. On the last episode of debates with Mikhail Prokhorov just before the elections, Zhirinovsky produced a scandal by calling those Russian celebrities which supported Prokhorov, including a pop-diva and a veteran of Russian pop scene Alla Pugacheva, "prostitutes" ("I thought you are an artful person, politician, cunning man, but you are just a clown and a psycho", replied Pugacheva. "I am what I am. And such is my charm", replied Zhirinovsky).{{cite web|url=http://lenta.ru/news/2012/02/28/scandal/|title=Жириновский устроил скандал на дебатах с Пугачевой|access-date=15 September 2017}} As a result, Zhirinovsky gained 6.2% of the votes.

During the diplomatic crisis following the 2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown by Turkey, Zhirinovsky suggested to bomb the Bosporus with nuclear weapons.{{Cite web |date=27 November 2015 |title=Jirinovski'den korkunç teklif: "İstanbul Boğazına atom bombası atalım!" |url=https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2015/dunya/jirinovski-istanbul-bogazina-atom-bombasi-atalim-996865/ |access-date=15 April 2023 |website=Sözcü |language=tr}}

In the parliamentary elections in 2016, the party improved its result compared to the previous elections. The LDPR surpassed the center-left party A Just Russia, becoming the third largest party in the State Duma. The LDPR won 39 seats, gaining 13.1% of the vote, nearly reaching the second placed Communist Party, which won 13.3% of votes and 42 seats. Also, the party gained single-member constituencies in Russian Far East (notably in Khabarovsk Krai).

In 2015, Zhirinovsky expressed a desire to participate in the presidential elections in 2018. In the past, key figures in the LDPR other than Zhirinovsky had been discussed as potential presidential candidates, such as Zhirinovsky's son Igor Lebedev as well as his close associates Mikhail Degtyarev, Yaroslav Nilov and Alexei Didenko.{{Cite web|url=https://life.ru/p/860843|title=Жириновский пойдёт на выборы президента с четырьмя преемниками|website=Life.ru|date=2 March 2016 }} After the parliamentary elections of 2016, Zhirinovsky said he would run himself.{{cite web|url=http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3130177|title=Владимир Жириновский снова собрался в президенты|date=28 October 2016|access-date=15 September 2017|via=Kommersant}}

On 9 July 2020, the popular governor of the Khabarovsk Krai and member of the LDPR, Sergei Furgal, who defeated the candidate of Putin's United Russia party in elections two years previously, was arrested and flown to Moscow on charges of involvement in the murders of several businessmen in 2004 and 2005.{{cite news |title=News Russia's city Khabarovsk rises against Vladimir Putin |url=https://www.dw.com/en/russias-city-khabarovsk-rises-against-vladimir-putin/a-54437316 |work=Deutsche Welle |date=4 August 2020}} He denied the allegations.{{cite news |title=Sergei Furgal: The arrest fuelling anti-Moscow anger in Russia's far east |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53441687 |work=BBC News |date=17 July 2020}} Starting on 11 June, mass protests were held in Khabarovsk Krai in support of Furgal. On 20 July, President Vladimir Putin dismissed Furgal from his position of governor and appointed Moscow-based politician Mikhail Degtyarev, who is also a member of the LDPR, as acting governor. Several regional lawmakers in Khabarovsk opted to leave the LDPR in protest against Furgal's dismissal.{{cite news |title=Anti-Putin Protests in Russia's Far East Gather Steam |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/east-asia-pacific_anti-putin-protests-russias-far-east-gather-steam/6193439.html |work=VOA News |date=25 July 2020}} The protests included chants of "shame on LDPR",{{cite news |title=Anger at Kremlin Grows in Latest Massive Russian Far East Protest |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/07/25/mass-anti-kremlin-rallies-grip-russias-far-east-a70977 |work=The Moscow Times |date=25 July 2020}} with LDPR loyalists outraged at the party leadership's failure to rally around Furgal.

{{see also|34th Congress of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia}}

File:Farewell to Vladimir Zhirinovsky 13.jpg at the funeral service of Zhirinovsky]]

In February 2022, Zhirinovsky was hospitalized in critical condition in Moscow with COVID-19.{{cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-zhirinovsky-hospitalized-covid/31694843.html|title=Russian Ultranationalist Zhirinovsky Reportedly Hospitalized In Serious Condition With COVID|newspaper=Radiofreeeurope/Radioliberty |publisher=Radio Free Europe|accessdate=25 March 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1075119.html|title=Russian State Duma legislator Vladimir Zhirinovsky hospitalized in serious condition in Moscow|date=9 February 2022 |publisher=Armen Press|accessdate=25 March 2022}} In March, he was reportedly placed in a medically induced coma,{{cite web |title=Умер Владимир Жириновский |url=https://ria.ru/20220325/zhirinovsky-1780024705.html |website=ria.ru |date=25 March 2022 |access-date=25 March 2022}} and underwent treatment for COVID-19 complications such as sepsis and respiratory failure.{{cite web|url=https://akipress.com/news:669356:Vladimir_Zhirinovsky_reported_dead,_Duma_Speaker_denies_reports/|title=Vladimir Zhirinovsky reported dead, Duma Speaker denies reports|publisher=AKI Press|accessdate=25 March 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://news.am/eng/news/692372.html|title=Telegram Channel 112: Vladimir Zhirinovsky is in a critical condition|publisher=News.Am|accessdate=25 March 2022}} Zhirinovsky claimed to have been vaccinated against COVID-19 eight times.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/06/russian-far-right-politician-vladimir-zhirinovsky-dies-at-75|title=Russian far-right politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky dies at 75|website=The Guardian|date=6 April 2022}}

On 25 March 2022, Zhirinovsky was reported to have died in a hospital. Despite confirmation from several sources, including his own political party, the news was quickly denied by family members.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-60308294|title=СМИ ошибочно сообщили о смерти Жириновского. Минздрав и спикер Госдумы заявили, что он жив|newspaper=BBC News Русская Служба}} On 6 April 2022, Vyacheslav Volodin, the Speaker of the Duma, announced that Zhirinovsky had died following a long illness. He was 75.{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-far-right-politician-vladimir-zhirinovsky-has-died-parliament-speaker-2022-04-06/|title=Russian far-right politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky dies at 75|date=6 April 2022|website=Reuters}}{{cite web|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/04/06/vladimir-zhirinovsky-far-right-court-jester-of-russian-politics-dies-at-75-a77240|title=Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Far-Right Court Jester of Russian Politics, Dies at 75|date=6 April 2022|website=The Moscow Times}}

After Zhirinovsky's death, Leonid Slutsky, the head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, was elected party leader.{{cite web|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/04/12/zhirinovskys-presence-missed-as-ldpr-scrabbles-for-successor-a77302|title=Zhirinovsky's Presence Missed as LDPR Scrabbles For Successor|website=The Moscow Times|date=12 April 2022}}

{{see also|Political positions of Vladimir Zhirinovsky}}

The LDPR seeks "a revival of Russia as a great power". It opposes both communism and capitalism. It prefers a mixed economy with private ownership, but with a strong management role reserved for the state.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BA7xCQAAQBAJ&q=ldpr+ideology&pg=PA203|title=The Politics of Fear: What Right-Wing Populist Discourses Mean|first=Ruth|last=Wodak|date=21 September 2015|publisher=SAGE|isbn=9781473914179|access-date=15 September 2017|via=Google Books}} In foreign policy, the party places a strong emphasis on "civilizations". It has supported the restoration of Russia with its "natural borders" (which the party believes include Transcaucasia, Central Asia, Belarus and Ukraine).{{Cite web|url=https://ldpr.ru//party|title=СТРУКТУРА | ИСТОРИЯ | ПРОГРАММА | УСТАВ | ГИМН || ЛДПР|website=ldpr.ru}} The LDPR regards the United States and NATO[https://books.google.com/books?id=1rA0DwAAQBAJ&dq=zhirinovsky+anti+nato&pg=PT90 Russia and the Western Far Right: Tango Noir]. as Russia's main external threats. The party has harshly criticised the discrimination against ethnic Russians in the Baltic states and demanded that they should be given Russian citizenship and protected against discriminatory legislation. The LDPR is also against corruption{{Cite web |url=https://www.eng.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/20661/ |title=Caucasian Knot | LDPR activists mark start of road repairs in Stavropol with anti-corruption picket |access-date=2017-09-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905051912/https://www.eng.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/20661/ |archive-date=2017-09-05 |url-status=dead }} and enlargement of the European Union, identifying as a Eurosceptic party,{{cite web|url=https://informnapalm.org/en/moscow-spreading-propaganda-using-eu-funded-media/|title=How Moscow is spreading its propaganda using EU-funded media - InformNapalm.org (English)|date=12 March 2017|access-date=15 September 2017}} instead preferring pan-Slavism.IBP USA Russia Parliament Encyclopedic Directory Strategic Information and Contacts p. 259. Professor Henry E. Hale lists the party's main policy stands as nationalism and a focus in law and order. Although it often uses radical opposition rhetoric, the LDPR frequently votes for government proposals. This has led to speculation that the party receives funding from the Kremlin. Political parties in Russia that had broken the 3% voting barrier and entered the parliament (State Duma) are officially financed by government, according to federal law. As such, all opposition parties in the State Duma are largely funded by the federal budget (e. g. in 2018, LDPR received 99.7% of its funding from the government, CPRF 90%, and A Just Russia 81%).{{Cite web |url=http://www.cikrf.ru/politparty/finance/svodn_otchet_18.php |title=Summary Financial Reports of Political Parties for 2018 - Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation |access-date=2021-01-03 |archive-date=2021-05-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519184709/http://www.cikrf.ru/politparty/finance/svodn_otchet_18.php |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=https://www.ridl.io/en/why-does-the-russian-state-pick-up-the-bill-for-political-parties/|title=Why Does the Russian State Pick Up the Bill For Political parties?|website=Riddle|first=Stanislav|last=Andreychuk|date=3 April 2019|access-date=4 January 2021|archive-date=26 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526102611/https://ridl.io/en/why-does-the-russian-state-pick-up-the-bill-for-political-parties/|url-status=dead}}

Zhirinovsky had stated that he wants to see a monarch titled "supreme ruler" lead Russia and had promised to shoot his political opponents if elected president.{{cite web |title=Zhirinovski: 'I'll take the world to the brink of war' DW English |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nzSqIVfPu4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/-nzSqIVfPu4| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|website=DW News | date=15 March 2018 |access-date=14 February 2021}}{{cbignore}}{{cite news |title=Who Will Be Russia's Next President?|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vFOSh77Mc8 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/9vFOSh77Mc8| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|access-date=13 February 2021 |work=NowThisWorld |date=19 October 2017}}{{cbignore}}{{cite news |title=Russian Politician Zhirinovsky Pledges to 'Shoot' Opponents in Parliament |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2017/03/15/ldpr-walks-out-of-duma-in-protest-of-proposed-commission-to-investigate-zhirinovsky-hate-speech-a57428 |access-date=14 February 2021 |work=The Moscow Times |date=15 March 2017}}

File:Vladimir Zhirinovsky 2015-06-29 (cropped).jpg]]

The party's organization was almost entirely centered on its former leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who died on 6 April 2022.{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/obituary-vladimir-zhirinovsky-dark-showman-russian-far-right-2022-04-06/|title=OBITUARY Vladimir Zhirinovsky, dark showman of the Russian far right|website=Reuters|date=6 April 2022}}

The party is in alliance with several parties in the former Soviet republics, including Armenia, Belarus, Estonia and Ukraine.{{Cite web|date=2005-12-07|title=Председатель Либерально-демократической партии Азербайджана Фуад Алиев встретится с Владимиром Жириновским|url=https://www.trend.az/azerbaijan/politics/765182.html|access-date=2021-09-13|website=Trend.Az|language=ru}}{{Cite web|date=13 March 2013|title=С кем дружат белорусские партии?|url=http://bdg.by/articles/2013/03/13/%D0%A1-%D0%BA%D0%B5%D0%BC-%D0%B4%D1%80%D1%83%D0%B6%D0%B0%D1%82-%D0%B1%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%83%D1%81%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B5-%D0%BF%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B8%3F|website=Белорусская деловая газета}}

In 2003, the party claimed 600,000 members and had issued 475,000 party cards. According to a 2008 survey by Colton, Hale and McFaul, 4% of the Russian population are loyalists of the party.

{{Portal|Russia|Politics|Conservatism}}

• Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus
• Liberal Democratic Party of Transnistria
• List of Liberal Democratic Party of Russia deputies in the State Duma
• Miflaga Mitkademet Liberalit Demokratit
• Serbian Radical Party

{{reflist}}

• {{commonscatinline}}
• [http://www.ldpr.ru/ Official Website] {{in lang|ru}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090126081208/http://www.ldpr.ru/partiya/prog/ Political Program LDPR]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080513061716/http://www.sras.org/the_world_according_to_zhirinovsky Zhirinovsky's 2007 political manifesto] {{in lang|en|ru}}
• [http://www.ldpr.de/ Non-official Website] {{in lang|ru}}

{{Liberal Democratic Party of Russia}}

{{Russian political parties}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberal Democratic Party Of Russia}}

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