Communist party in Russia, founded in 2009
The
Communist Party "Communists of Russia"
(
CPCR
;
Russian
:
Коммунистическая партия ≪Коммунисты России≫; КПКР
;
Kommunisticheskaya partiya ≪Kommunisty Rossii≫
,
KPKR
) or simply
Communists of Russia
(
CR
;
Russian
:
Коммунисты России; КР
;
Kommunisty Rossii
,
KR
) is an
anti-revisionist
Marxist?Leninist
communist party
in
Russia
. Communists of Russia was founded in May 2009 as a
public
non-commercial
organisation
, and officially registered as a
political party
in April 2012.
[1]
[2]
The party has regional organisations in 69 regions and operates in
70 regions
of
Russia
and has official affiliation with two inter-regional
public associations
: the Communists of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region and the Communists of the Far East.
[
citation needed
]
The party's main rival on the
left
of Russia's
political spectrum
is the
Communist Party of the Russian Federation
(CPRF), which sees itself as the successor to the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
(CPSU).
[4]
The KR considers itself an alternative to the CPRF, which it believes is no longer a
Marxist
party and will not be able to return to power as long as
Gennady Zyuganov
is First Secretary.
[5]
However, the party has been widely described as a
spoiler party
, including by the CPRF.
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
On March 18, 2022, an extraordinary party congress was held, at which a new chairman of the Central Committee of the party,
Sergey Malinkovich
, was elected.
[11]
[12]
On December 28, 2023, he was nominated by an overwhelming majority as the party candidate for
president of Russia
in the
2024 presidential election
.
[13]
[14]
[15]
Malinkovich promised a program like
Stalin's ten blows
, against United States capitalism and imperialism, and victory in
Russia's war against Ukraine
.
[16]
Platform
[
edit
]
For the
2016 Russian legislative election
, the Communists of Russia released an electoral platform titled "Ten Stalinist Strikes on Capitalism", which called for broad
nationalization
, the return of the
death penalty
for certain crimes, medical reform, and a constitutional ban on raising the retirement age.
[7]
Election results
[
edit
]
Presidential elections
[
edit
]
On December 28, 2023,
Sergey Malinkovich
was nominated by an overwhelming majority as the party candidate for
President of Russia
in
the March 15-17, 2024 presidential election
.
[13]
[14]
[15]
Malinkovich promised a program like
Stalin's ten blows
, against United States capitalism and imperialism, and victory in Russia's war against Ukraine.
[16]
Legislative elections
[
edit
]
Election
|
Party leader
|
Performance
|
Rank
|
Government
|
Votes
|
%
|
± pp
|
Seats
|
+/?
|
2016
|
Maxim Suraykin
|
1,192,595
|
|
New
|
|
New
|
5th
|
Extra-parliamentary
|
2021
|
715,685
|
|
1.00
|
|
0
|
8th
|
Extra-parliamentary
|
Regional elections
[
edit
]
At the
Russian regional elections in 2012
, the party got 2 to 3.5 percent of the vote and two seats.
[
citation needed
]
[
clarification needed
]
Khakassia
[
edit
]
In the
2018 Khakassia Supreme Council election
, the Communists of Russia won 8.01% of the vote, and won 2 of the 50 seats on the
Supreme Council
.
[18]
Nenets Autonomous Okrug
[
edit
]
In the
2018 Nenets Autonomous Okrug Assembly of Deputies election
[
ru
]
, the Communists of Russia won 1 of the 19 seats on the
Assembly of Deputies
.
[19]
Rostov Oblast
[
edit
]
In the
2018 Rostov Oblast Legislative Assembly election
, the Communists of Russia won 5% of the vote, and won 1 of the 60 seats on the
Legislative Assembly of the Rostov Region
[
ru
]
.
[20]
Tula Oblast
[
edit
]
In the
2019 Tula Oblast Duma election
[
ru
]
, the Communists of Russia won 5.67% of the vote, and won 1 of the 36 seats on the
Tula Oblast Duma
.
[21]
Ulyanovsk Oblast
[
edit
]
In the
2018 Ulyanovsk Oblast Legislative Assembly election
[
ru
]
, the Communists of Russia won 5.83% of the vote, and won 1 of the 36 seats on the
Legislative Assembly
.
[22]
Yaroslavl Oblast
[
edit
]
In the
2018 Yaroslavl Oblast Duma election
, the Communists of Russia won over 5% of the vote, winning 1 of the 50 seats on the
Yaroslavl Oblast Duma
.
[23]
Criticism
[
edit
]
The Communists of Russia has been criticized by a number of
left-wing
political groups and parties in Russia, as well as former members of the party, which have denounced the party as a spoiler and a front for the Russian government. In June 2015, the
Communist Party of the Russian Federation
filed a lawsuit with the Moscow Arbitration Court against the Communists of Russia party to stop using the name, citing their similarity.
[6]
On 11 July 2016, the court dismissed this claim.
[6]
In April 2016, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation also accused the Communists of Russia's electoral platform, titled "Ten Stalinist Strikes on Capitalism", of copying their own, titled "
Zyuganov's
Ten Theses on Bringing the Country Out of the Crisis".
[7]
The
Russian United Labour Front
, a left-wing organization in Russia, condemns the Communists of Russia as a front for government officials to splinter the left-wing vote.
[8]
In an article they published, they highlight that the Communists of Russia was able to get official recognition immediately, whereas their organization had their recognition application refused seven times, and also note how the Communists of Russia were able to enter the
Supreme Council of the Republic of Khakassia
without collecting the signatures required for other parties who wish to compete in regional elections.
[8]
They also accuse the party of running businessmen closely associated with the ruling
United Russia
party as candidates, gaining a disproportionate media spotlight, and needlessly attacking the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.
[8]
The Russian United Labour Front also has exposed advertisements by the Communists of Russia which promise to pay people 300
Rubles
for attending their rallies, and sent one writer to do just that.
[8]
Former deputy chairman of the Communists of Russia, Konstantin Zhukov, claimed that party leader
Maxim Suraykin
has warped the party from a genuine left-wing party into a tool of the government to cripple the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.
[9]
According to Zhukov, Suraykin has removed the Communists of Russia's collective decision making structure, and ignored other senior party members to further turn the party into his own.
[9]
Zhukov claimed that 10 of the 15 candidates the party put forth to compete in the
2016 Russian legislative election
in
Moscow
were put forth by
Andrey Vorobyov
, the
governor of Moscow Oblast
and member of the ruling United Russia party, whereas just 2 were members of the Communists of Russia.
[9]
For the
2019 Moscow City Duma election
, Zhukov accused 26 of the party's 32 candidates of being put forth by
Sergey Sobyanin
, the
Mayor of Moscow
and United Russia member.
[9]
The news website
Meduza
noted that the Communists of Russia was running two candidates with virtually identical names to two Communist Party candidates in the
2021 Russian legislative election
in
Moscow
.
[10]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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Registered parties
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Unregistered parties and organizations
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Defunct parties and organizations
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