Communist Party of the Russian Federation

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Коммунистическая партия Российской Федерации
Communist Party of the Russian Federation
Logo KPRF.gif
flag
Logo of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.svg
emblem
Gennady Zyuganov
Party leader Gennady Zyuganov
Emergence CPSU 1912
Communist Party of the RSFSR June 19, 1990
founding February 14, 1993
Place of foundation Moscow
Headquarters House 3
Malyj
Sukharevskij pereulok 103051 Moscow
Youth organization Komsomol of the Russian Federation
newspaper Pravda
Alignment Communism
Marxism-Leninism
Socialism of the 21st Century
Sociopolitical Conservatism
Colours) red
State Duma
43/450
Governors
2/85
Area dumen
334/3928
Number of members 162,173
(as of January 1, 2016)
International connections UdKP-CPSU
International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties
Website kprf.ru

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) ( Russian Коммунистическая партия Российской Федерации ( КПРФ ) / Transcription : Kommunistitscheskaja partija Rossiskoj Federazii in Russia ( KPRF )) is a communist party in Russia . Political goals of the KPRF include the re-nationalization of key industries and resistance to the privatization of land. The party combines socialist and nationalist , but also some social democratic ideals and has 162,173 members (as of 2016). She sees herself as the legal successor to the CPSU in Russia.

Content orientation

Own positioning

In the party's current program, which was adopted in 2008, the KPRF describes itself as the only political organization that consistently defends workers' rights and national interests. The motto of the Communist Party, which is also included in its emblem, is "Russia, work, popular rule, socialism!". The International is set as the anthem of the KPRF .

Central political demands are:

  • socio-political free medical care, recreation and training
  • In terms of economic and financial policy, the move away from the uniform income tax rate of 13% favoring the rich and its replacement by a tax progression and the socialization of the means of production
  • foreign policy a strengthening of Russia's position in international politics.

The main goal is the establishment of a renewed " socialism of the 21st century " in Russia. The program stipulates that the party is guided by the teachings of Marxism-Leninism . However, these are constantly being developed on the basis of new experiences and achievements in science and culture.

Another important place in the party’s work is the proclaimed incompatibility of Russia with a “ New World Order ” under Western leadership. The Russian people would emphatically reject the “ consumerist bait of the bourgeoisie ” and the promise of a “ liberal-democratic paradise” because of their thousand-year history, their characteristics of sobornost and striving for sovereignty , social feeling , deep faith and indestructible altruism . Since the introduction of capitalism in Russia a " genocide of a great nation" has taken place. This takes place both on a cultural and a physical level, since the population that is not needed for value creation is worthless under capitalism. In this context, the KPRF emphasizes the importance of patriotism in the fight against anti-communist forces and speaks of a “Russian question”. The solution to this question would essentially coincide with the struggle for socialism.

According to its program, the Communist Party considers it necessary to reform the country in three steps.

In the first phase it is planned to bring about the "rule of the working people " with the help of a coalition led by the KPRF . Achieving this goal aims to eliminate the perceived catastrophic consequences of the reforms carried out over the last few decades. In particular, the property privatized in the 1990s is to be nationalized again. At the same time, small producers of goods should continue to exist and be protected from access by big business , corrupt officials and organized crime . In place of the current administrative organs of Russia, soviets are to take over again .

In the second phase it is planned to strengthen the role of the soviets and trade unions . A gradual transition to a socialist economy is to take place, whereby small private capital is retained.

Finally, in the third phase, the building of socialism is planned.

At the socio-political level, the KPRF supports the cooperation with the Russian Orthodox Church , which is praised for its commitment to the “weak, sick and suffering”. In a condolence expression on the death of Patriarch Alexius II in 2008, party chairman Zyuganov said: “We hope to continue our extensive cooperation with the Russian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox world - because we ourselves are part of the Orthodox world, there about a third of our voters and supporters are genuinely religious ”. The KPRF, together with the Orthodox Church, supported the passing of a law "against the intrusion of foreign sects " in Russia.

The KPRF recognizes and condemns certain violations of “socialist legality” in the 1930s and 1940s. In assessing the role of Joseph Stalin , however, it is required to take into account the economic achievements under his leadership, the victory in the Great Patriotic War , the creation of an " atomic shield " and the reconstruction of the country after the war. On the Great Terror , Zyuganov commented in 2009: "As far as repression is concerned, the party declared its inadmissibility as early as the 1950s and swore that it would never happen again."

Political classification

On the basis of Stalin pictures and Stalin busts, which are ubiquitous in party offices and during the election campaign, it can be argued that the party adopts a more revisionist stance than the CPSU after 1956. According to Zyuganov, Stalin led the Soviet Union into an age of unprecedented “prosperity and security”. It is not clear to what extent there is actually a corresponding program or rather a symbolic character behind the apparent Stalinism . One of the main reasons for the Stalin nostalgia is probably the large number of members, mostly older comrades from the era of the USSR , who opposed the developments, especially under Mikhail Gorbachev . Just over ten percent of the members are under forty years of age. In 1997 the membership was 559,000.

According to various assessments, the party plays the role of a valve to the left within the Putin system, but without questioning its power. It is a so-called spoiler party. The KPRF seldom votes against the United Russia party in important ballots in the Duma, and for this reason it was even referred to as a “junior partner of the state party” in 2012, as by Jürgen Hartmann. The relationship with the Kremlin was also an issue during the breakaway in 2012: While the secessionist communists in Russia accused the KPRF of working with the Kremlin, the KPRF in turn accused the secessionists of being controlled by the Kremlin.

Inner structure

organization structure

XIII. KPRF Congress (November 29, 2008)
Pioneers in front of the Lenin Mausoleum (May 16, 2010)

The KPRF is represented in Russia by more than 14,000 local organizations in all 85 federal subjects.

The highest organ of the Communist Party is the Party Congress. Between the congresses the central committee, whose members are elected by the party congress, is the supreme body. The Central Committee prepares documents on the most important party questions on the basis of the program and the decisions of the Congresses. The executive bodies of the Central Committee, which are elected by the same, are the Presidium and the Secretariat. The Presidium is supposed to discuss political and organizational issues between the members of the Central Committee. The secretariat serves to organize the ongoing party work and to monitor the implementation of the decisions of the party organs. The secretariat reports to the Bureau.

The average age of the members in 2016 was 55.6 years according to their own information. Many members still come from the CPSU.

Affiliate organizations

The youth organization closely related to the KPRF is the Lenin Communist Youth Association of the Russian Federation founded in 1999. Like the youth organization of the CPSU, it is abbreviated as Komsomol . Membership in the organization is open to citizens of Russia aged 14 to 35. The Komsomol of the Russian Federation is a member of the World League of Democratic Youth and in this role regularly takes part in the World Festival of Youth and Students . The association supports the “Land of Talents” creative competition for children and young people. He also organizes the “Banner of Our Victory”, a “patriotic educational project” which is intended to “encourage the younger generation to study the history of their country”.

A pioneering organization for children is incorporated into the Komsomol of the Russian Federation. Every year on May 19, the day the pioneer organization Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was founded , it organizes the “Day of Pioneers” in front of the Lenin Mausoleum in Moscow.

History of the party

founding

The KPRF was founded in the summer of 1990 as the Communist Party of the Russian Federal Socialist Soviet Republic (CP of the RSFSR) by party members of the CPSU who did not want to accept the reform course (perestroika) of party chairman Mikhail Gorbachev . In the election for the party's first secretary, Ivan Poloskow won with 1386: 1251 votes against Oleg Lobow with 1581: 1066 votes. After the attempted coup in August 1991 against the President of the Soviet Union Gorbachev, the Russian President Yeltsin banned both the CPSU and the CP of the RSFSR. In 1992 the Russian Constitutional Court upheld the dissolution of the Politburo and the Central Committee, but re-admitted the party's grassroots organizations. The KPRF was formally founded in 1993 and declared itself to be the successor to the CP of the RSFSR and, according to its self-image, as the legal successor to the CPSU. Gennady Zyuganov has led the party since 1993 .

elections

Since its re-establishment in 1993, the party has grown steadily, it was the largest faction in the Duma until 2003, but lost half of its votes in the 2003 Russian parliamentary elections . Zyuganov spoke of election fraud and accused the government of Vladimir Putin of deliberately creating a left-wing nationalist party to compete with the Communist Party by forming the Rodina party . According to the OSCE , the election campaign was “partly not fair” and failed to meet “democratic standards”. The German election observer Rita Süssmuth ( CDU ) said: "Putin and his party had a dominant presence on state TV."

In 1992 the KPRF (like other Russian communist parties) took part in the National Salvation Front (by Ilya Konstantinov ), which contained several parties from the “left” (communist) and “right” (nationalist, partly monarchist ) opposition. For the 1996 presidential election , which Zyuganov almost won, an umbrella organization of more than 30 communist and nationalist organizations was created under the leadership of the KPRF.

Due to the five percent hurdle, only four parties with parliamentary groups (35 seats) got into parliament. Putin's party United Russia reached 37.57% and 222 seats, the KPRF 12.61% and 52 seats, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia of Vladimir Zhirinovsky 11.45% and 38 seats and the putin loyal party Rodina 9.02% and 45 Seats. A further 80 seats from smaller parties have been allocated through direct mandates. Since the LDPR is involved in the government, the KPRF has been the only faction-strong opposition party in Russia since the elections.

In the 2004 Russian presidential elections , Zyuganov, like other party leaders, did not run because they were not given a chance against Putin. The party nominated the 55-year-old colonel of the domestic intelligence service FSB Nikolai Kharitonov , a former sovkhoz director and former chairman of the KPRF-affiliated Russian Agrarian Party . Kharitonov became Putin's most successful opponent with 13.74% of the vote. Kharitonov had previously prevailed within the party against the businessman Gennady Semigin . The aim of Kharitonov's candidacy was to unite the Russian rural population and prevent voters from migrating to the Rodina party. As for the election, Zyuganov told Council of Europe observers : "There was no equality, transparency and democracy, and there will be none."

In the 2007 Duma elections , the KPRF again lost a significant number of votes in favor of United Russia, bringing it to just 11.3%.

Four years later, in the 2011 Duma elections , the KPRF was able to improve its share of the vote to 19.2%. The KPRF achieved its best result in Oryol Oblast , where it won 32.0% of the vote.

In the 2016 Duma elections , the KPRF only achieved 13.4%, as it again lost a significant number of votes in favor of United Russia.

KPRF rally on Manezhnaya Square in Moscow (December 18, 2011)
Election poster of the KPRF in Petrozavodsk : "Well, what is life like in capitalism?" (July 17, 2016)
year elections candidate percent Direct mandates Seats
December 12, 1993 duma x 12.4% 13 48
December 17, 1995 duma x 22.3% 125 58
June 18, 1996 president Gennady Andreevich Zyuganov 30.2% 1st ballot
40.3% 2nd ballot 		x x
December 19, 1999 duma x 24.29% 46 113
March 26, 2000 president Gennady Andreevich Zyuganov 29.2% 1st ballot x x
December 7, 2003 duma x 12.61% 12 52
March 14, 2004 president Nikolai Kharitonov (Agrarian Party of Russia) 13.74% 1st ballot x x
December 3, 2007 duma x 11.57% x 57
March 3, 2008 president Gennady Andreevich Zyuganov 17.72% 1st ballot x x
4th December 2011 duma x 19.2% x 92
March 4, 2012 president Gennady Andreevich Zyuganov 17.18% 1st ballot x x
18th September 2016 duma x 13.4% x 42
18th March 2018 president Pavel Nikolayevich Grudinin 6.9% 1st ballot x x

cleavage

In 1999 the KPRF became the strongest party and filled almost all committee posts in the Duma. In 2002, parliamentarians loyal to the government from various parties removed the chairmanship of important committees. The KPRF decided that the remaining communist parliamentarians in parliamentary offices should leave them. Party members who did not comply with this decision, such as Duma President Gennady Seleznjow, were expelled from the party. After the poor performance in the 2004 Duma election with only 12.6% (−11.7 percentage points), two competing party congresses took place. 248 delegates met on 2/3 July in the Moscow hotel complex Ismajlowo and re-elected Zyuganov as chairman. In the presence of members of the electoral commission, 148 delegates met on Thursday for a counterparty conference at a secret location and elected the governor of Ivanovo , Vladimir Ilyich Tikhonov , as their chairman. Both parties identified themselves as the legally true KPRF. The split was financed by the multimillionaire and Duma member Gennadij Semigin, who, on behalf of the presidential administration , was supposed to establish both a conservative and a moderate left party. The resolutions of the opposing party conference were declared illegitimate on August 3, 2004 by the Russian Ministry of Justice . Tikhonov's supporters united on September 11, 2004 to form the “ All-Russian Communist Party of the Future ” (VKPB, Всероссийская коммунистическая партия будущего, ВКПБ), of which Tikhonov became the chairman of the Politburo.

literature

  • CP of Russia. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. No. 294, December 20, 1999, p. 2.
  • Communist Party of the Russian Federation. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. No. 289, December 16, 1999, miscellaneous p. 9.
  • The parties, 28 blocs are aspiring to the Duma. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. No. 293, December 18, 1999, p. 14.
  • Russia: Communist Party before the split . Der Spiegel, No. 24, 2002, p. 145.
  • Lenin's last contingent, KP no longer reaches the youth. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. No. 283, December 9, 2003, p. 2.
  • Dawning communists. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. No. 299, December 30, 2003.
  • Show of the hopeless, the five remaining opponents of Putin. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. No. 59, March 11, 2004.
  • International criticism of the presidential election in Russia. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. No. 63, March 16, 2004, p. 9.
  • Russian communists split. Zyuganov turned off the electricity / competing party conferences. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. No. 153, July 5, 2004, p. 4.
  • András Bozóki, John T. Ishiyama: The Communist Successor Parties of Central and Eastern Europe. Routledge, 2002.
  • Taras Kuzio: Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives on Nationalism: New Directions in Cross-Cultural and Post-Communist Studies. ibidem-Verlag, 2014.

Web links

Commons : Communist Party of the Russian Federation  - Collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j program of the party . In: KPRF . Archived from the original on January 30, 2012.
  2. ↑ Communists and Traditional Values ​​(in Russian) . KPRF. October 21, 2012. Accessed June 23, 2020.
  3. ↑ solidnet.org ( Memento of the original from January 7, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.solidnet.org
  4. ↑ О партии. Краткая справка (short self-introduction) on the KPRF website, accessed on October 24, 2016 (Russian).
  5. ↑ a b Daniel Wechlin: win votes with Stalin. Russia's communists present themselves as the workers' party. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, September 16, 2016, p. 7.
  6. ↑ The Concept of Globalists (in Russian) . KPRF. December 13, 2002. Accessed June 27, 2020.
  7. ^ Gennady Zyuganov: Party cadres in action. (in Russian) ITRK-Verlag, 2001, ISBN 5-88010-083-9 , p. 11.
  8. ↑ Strengthening the Spiritual Power of the People (in Russian) . Sovetskaya Rossiya. August 10, 2007. Accessed June 21, 2020.
  9. ↑ The Russian Question and the Communists of Russia (in Russian) . Pravda. February 20, 2008. Accessed June 21, 2020.
  10. ^ GA Zyuganov on the death of Patriarch Alexius II: He made a great contribution to the revival of the Church (in Russian) . KPRF. December 5, 2008. Accessed June 21, 2020.
  11. ↑ In Nizhny Novgorod the region's first monument to IV Stalin was erected (in Russian) . KPRF Moscow. June 25, 2020. Accessed June 27, 2020.
  12. ^ Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) (in Russian) . Rusbase. September 29, 2011. Accessed June 21, 2020.
  13. ↑ On the editorial visit of «Pravda». In: Echo of Time . November 6, 2017.
  14. ↑ Putin, Stalin and the good Lord. In: Basler Zeitung. 7th November 2017.
  15. ↑ KPRF on Dekoder.org, as of September 28, 2016; “Despite such harsh criticism, the KPRF is considered part of the so-called system opposition in the managed Russian democracy, since it, like the other two major opposition parties, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR - Liberalno-Demokratitscheskaja Partija Rossii) and Just Russia (SR - Sprawedliwaja Rossija), only rarely votes against the government in important votes and ultimately supports its policy. "
  16. ↑ Jürgen Hartmann: Russia: Introduction to the political system and comparison with the post-Soviet states. Springer-Verlag, 2012, ISBN 978-3-658-00175-9 , p. 140.
  17. ↑ Where are the Russian communists headed? In: RBTH . November 29, 2013.
  18. ↑ a b About the party. Brief overview . In: KPRF . Archived from the original on May 12, 2020.
  19. ↑ Charter of the KPRF (in Russian) . KPRF. February 14, 1993. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  20. ↑ Charter (in Russian) . Komsomol RF. February 10, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  21. ↑ friends. Land of Talent (in Russian) . Zemlya Talantov. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  22. ↑ About the project. Patriotic educational project (in Russian) . Znamia Pobedy. November 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  23. ↑ Russian communists accepted school children from different regions of the country in their pioneer organization (in Russian) . Echo Moskvy . May 15, 2011. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  24. ↑ Congratulations on Pioneers Day (in Russian) . KPRF Moscow. Retrieved June 29, 2020.