Liberal Democratic Party of Russia

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Redirect Template:Expand Russian Template:Infobox political party LDPR – Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (Template:Langx)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is a Russian ultranationalist and right-wing populist political party. It succeeded the Liberal Democratic Party of the Soviet Union (LDPSU) in Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The party was led by Vladimir Zhirinovsky since its inception until his death in April 2022. Opposing both communism and state capitalism of the 1990s, the party scored a major success in the 1993 Duma elections with almost 23% of the vote, giving it 64 seats of the 450 seats in the State Duma. In the 2021 elections, the party received 7.55% of the vote, giving it 21 seats.

Despite the party's name, it has been described as "neither liberal nor democratic nor a party".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The LDPR was centered around Zhirinovsky,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="bbc-2012" /> and is often described as populist,<ref name="bbc-2012" /><ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> nationalist,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> or ultranationalist.<ref name="reuters-2020" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It has been described as adhering to statism and authoritarianism,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and has also been described as fascist,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> though this label has been disputed.<ref name=":0" /> The party, as part of the "systemic opposition", is considered to be traditionally loyal to the Kremlin.<ref name="bbc-2012">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Besides the aforementioned accusations, it has also been described as right-liberal.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The party has been a part of the federal government since May 14, 2024, with Mikhail Degtyarev serving as Minister of Sport.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its members are generally called "zhirinovets" (Russian: жириновец, lit. 'Zhirinovite').<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref>

History

File:Logo of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (old).svg

Former version of the logo

Creation

Liberal Democratic Party of the Soviet Union

Template:See also 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.<ref name=white>Template:Cite book</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev Time of darkness, Moscow, 2003, Template:ISBN, page 574 (Template:Langx, [http://www.pseudology.org/democracy/YakovlevSumerki.pdf www.pseudology.org)</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name= "WP">Template:Cite news</ref>

The outspoken leader of the party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, an effective media performer,<ref name=white/> gained 8% of votes during the 1991 presidential elections.<ref name=hale>Template:Cite book</ref> He also supported the August 1991 coup attempt.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Liberal Democratic Party of Russia

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.

Zhirinovsky's leadership

1993–1999

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.<ref name=mcfaul>Template:Cite book</ref>

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.<ref name=white/> 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.<ref name="hale"/>

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.<ref name="mcfaul"/>

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.

2000–2009

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In the legislative elections in 2007, the LDPR received 5,660,823 votes (8.14%) and received 40 seats in the State Duma.<ref name="mcfaul"/>

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

2010–2019

Vladimir Zhirinovsky speaks at an rally during the party's legislative election campaign

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".<ref name=clown-showman>Template:Cite web</ref> 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).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After the parliamentary elections of 2016, Zhirinovsky said he would run himself.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2020–2022

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He denied the allegations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The protests included chants of "shame on LDPR",<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> with LDPR loyalists outraged at the party leadership's failure to rally around Furgal.<ref name="tmt-apr-22"/>

Zhirinovsky's death

Party members and State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin at the funeral service of Zhirinovsky

In February 2022, Zhirinovsky was hospitalized in critical condition in Moscow with COVID-19.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In March, he was reportedly placed in a medically induced coma,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and underwent treatment for COVID-19 complications such as sepsis and respiratory failure.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Zhirinovsky claimed to have been vaccinated against COVID-19 eight times.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 6 April 2022, Vyacheslav Volodin, the Speaker of the Duma, announced that Zhirinovsky had died following a long illness. He was 75.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

After Zhirinovsky's death, Leonid Slutsky, the head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, was elected party leader.<ref name="tmt-apr-22">Template:Cite web</ref>

Slutsky's leadership

Election

In May 2022, an extraordinary congress of the party was held, at which its new leader was elected. Initially, Leonid Slutsky and Khabarovsk Governor Mikhail Degtyarev were considered the main candidates. However, shortly before the congress, Degtyarev declined to run for party leader and publicly endorsed Slutsky.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Other persons who declared their intention to run for the leadership of the party were not allowed to vote. In this connection, Slutsky was elected the new leader of the party on an uncontested basis.<ref name="tmt-apr-22">Template:Cite web</ref>

2022–present

Slutsky during his 2024 presidential campaign

In 2024, Slutsky was nominated as the party's presidential candidate. Speculation about Slutsky's possible intention to run for president began immediately after his election as party leader. At the same time, Slutsky himself refused to give a clear answer about his participation in the elections, stating only that the party would definitely nominate its presidential candidate.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

According to media reports, the nomination of Slutsky was the main option for the party's participation in the election. In addition, according to political scientists, participation in the elections was necessary for Slutsky to strengthen his position in the party. If Zhirinovsky was one of the founders and the undisputed party leader, then Slutsky did not have such authority, and he had to fight several intra-party groups at once, including Alexei Didenko and Yaroslav Nilov, who previously were removed by Slutsky from leadership positions in the party's apparatus,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and also such as Boris Chernyshov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma and 2023 candidate for Mayor of Moscow, applying for the post of party leader.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In May 2024, when the second Mishustin government was formed, Mikhail Degtyarev was appointed Russian Minister of Sport. Degtyarev became the first Liberal Democratic Party member to join the government since 1999.

A number of Russian media outlets noted that Slutsky had purged the party of disloyal politicians.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> So, in December 2023, former State Duma deputy Vasily Vlasov, who was one of Zhirinovsky's closest associates, was expelled from the Liberal Democratic Party.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In June 2025, Yaroslav Nilov was expelled from the party, whom Zhirinovsky publicly announced as one of his possible successors.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Political positions

Template:See also Template:Conservatism in Russia 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.<ref name=FEAR>Template:Cite book</ref> 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).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The LDPR regards the United States and NATO<ref>Russia and the Western Far Right: Tango Noir.</ref> 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.<ref name=white/> The LDPR is also against corruption<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and enlargement of the European Union, identifying as a Eurosceptic party,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> instead preferring pan-Slavism.<ref name="IBP">IBP USA Russia Parliament Encyclopedic Directory Strategic Information and Contacts p. 259.</ref> 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.<ref name="hale"/> 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%).<ref name="party-finance">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref name= "NTW">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Structure and membership

The party's organization was almost entirely centered on its former leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who died on 6 April 2022.<ref name=hale/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The party is in alliance with several parties in the former Soviet republics, including Armenia, Belarus, Estonia and Ukraine.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2003, the party claimed 600,000 members and had issued 475,000 party cards.<ref name="white"/> According to a 2008 survey by Colton, Hale and McFaul, 4% of the Russian population are loyalists of the party.<ref name=hale/>

Party leaders

No.	Leader (birth–death)		Took office	Left office	Tenure
1		Vladimir Zhirinovsky (1946–2022)	18 April 1992	6 April 2022 (died in office)	Template:Age in years and days
―		Leonid Slutsky (b. 1968)	6 April 2022	27 May 2022	Template:Age in years and days
2			27 May 2022 (elected)	Incumbent	Template:Age in years and days

Electoral results

Presidential

Election	Candidate	First round		Second round		Result
		Votes	%	Votes	%
1991	Vladimir Zhirinovsky	6,211,007	7.81			Template:No2
1996		4,311,479	5.70			Template:No2
2000		2,026,513	2.70			Template:No2
2004	Oleg Malyshkin	1,405,315	2.02			Template:No2
2008	Vladimir Zhirinovsky	6,988,510	9.35			Template:No2
2012		4,458,103	6.22			Template:No2
2018		4,154,985	5.65			Template:No2
2024	Leonid Slutsky	2,795,629	3.24			Template:No2

State Duma

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Rank	Government
1993	Vladimir Zhirinovsky	12,318,562	22.92	Template:Composition bar		1st	Template:No2
1995		7,737,431	11.18	Template:Composition bar	Template:Decrease 13	Template:Decrease 3rd	Template:No2
							Template:Yes2
							Template:Partial2
1999		3,990,038	5.98	Template:Composition bar	Template:Decrease 34	Template:Decrease 5th	Template:Partial2
2003		6,944,322	11.45	Template:Composition bar	Template:Increase 19	Template:Increase 3rd	Template:Partial2
2007		5,660,823	8.14	Template:Composition bar	Template:Increase 4	Template:Steady 3rd	Template:Partial2
2011		7,664,570	11.67	Template:Composition bar	Template:Increase 16	Template:Decrease 4th	Template:Partial2
2016		6,917,063	13.14	Template:Composition bar	Template:Decrease 17	Template:Increase 3rd	Template:Partial2
2021		4,252,096	7.55	Template:Composition bar	Template:Decrease 18	Template:Decrease 4th	Template:Partial2
							Template:Yes2

See also

• 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

External links

• Template:Commonscatinline
• Official Website Template:In lang
• Political Program LDPR
• Zhirinovsky's 2007 political manifesto Template:In lang
• Non-official Website Template:In lang