Russian Party of Freedom and Justice

The Russian Party of Freedom and Justice (RPSS; Russian: Российская партия свободы и справедливости; РПСС, romanizedRossiyskaya partiya svobody i spravedlivosti; RPSS) is a political party in Russia established and registered in 2012 as Communist Party of Social Justice.[4]

Russian Party of Freedom and Justice
Российская партия свободы и справедливости
AbbreviationRPSS
ChairmanKonstantin Rykov
FounderAndrei Bogdanov
Founded8 April 2012 (2012-04-08) (Communist Party of Social Justice)
28 March 2021 (2021-03-28) (Russian Party of Freedom and Justice)
HeadquartersMoscow
Political positionCentre-left[1]
Colours  Black
  Red
Seats in the State Duma
0 / 450
Seats in the Regional Parliaments
1 / 3,928
[2][3]
Website
my.rpss.ru

History

edit

The party was created with the participation of the leader of the Democratic Party of Russia and politician Andrey Bogdanov.[5]

In the 2013 elections in Volgograd, the party received 5.04% (9055 votes) breaking the five-percent threshold and received one seat in the city Parliament.[6]

In 2014, Bogdanov became party leader, succeeding Yuri Morozov in this post. Andrei Brezhnev, grandson of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev, was elected First Secretary of the Central Committee of the party. In this year's election, Brezhnev was the candidate for the Parliament of Crimea and Sevastopol,[7] but the party did not win any seats.[8][9]

In April 2021, the party was renamed the Russian Party of Freedom and Justice. Konstantin Rykov became the chairman of the party, and Maksim Shevchenko became the leader.[10]

On September 9, 2022, Maxim Shevchenko stated in his official Telegram channel that he no longer considers himself the leader of the RPSS and does not participate in the activities of a political party.[11]

Criticism

edit

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) has accused the party of being a creation of the Kremlin and United Russia to siphon votes away from the CPRF.[12][13]

CPRF points out that the CPSJ nominated candidates in single-mandate constituencies who had the same names as candidates from the CPRF, in order to confuse voters. Sergei Obukhov asserts that "it is not the CPSJ who stands behind the nomination of namesakes, but the administrative resource and the ruling party".[14]

In 2020, the party nominated Gennady Shchadov in the elections for the governor of Irkutsk Oblast while Mikhail Shchapov was nominated from the CPRF.[15]

Leader of the Left Front Sergei Udaltsov said that "the nature of the actions of the new party (RPSS) gives reason to think that they will be a spoiler party". He called Maksim Shevchenko's joining the RPSS "a betrayal of his comrades at a crucial moment" and considered possible his exclusion from Left Front.[16]

Former logos

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Russia". Europe Elects.
  2. ^ "Депутат Шувалова, исключенная из КПРФ после круглого стола с Навальным, пойдет в Госдуму" [Deputy Shuvalova, expelled from the Communist Party after a round table with Navalny, will go to the State Duma]. Znak.com (in Russian). 27 April 2021.
  3. ^ "Из КПРФ выгнали самого известного депутата Закдумы" [The most famous deputy of the Zakduma was expelled from the CPRF]. DVNovosti Khabarovsk (in Russian). 26 January 2021.
  4. ^ "The program of the political party Communist party of social justice". Archived from the original on 2015-01-05. Retrieved 2015-01-05.
  5. ^ [Press conference of the leaders of the five political parties created by Andrey Bogdanov on YouTube
  6. ^ The results of elections of Deputies of the Volgograd city Duma of the 5th convocation
  7. ^ Crimea was unilaterally annexed from Ukraine by the Russian Federation in early 2014
  8. ^ Grandson of Leonid Brezhnev will fight for the seat of member of the state Council of the Crimea
  9. ^ Grandson of Brezhnev and the Grand master of the Grand Lodge of Russia Andrey Bogdanov electoral Commission gives the green light to participate in elections
  10. ^ "Максим Шевченко положил партбилет на другой стол". kommersant.ru (in Russian). April 2021. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  11. ^ Shevchenko's message in Telegram about the termination of his participation in the activities of the RPSS
  12. ^ "The mystery of the new Red". Archived from the original on 2013-12-13. Retrieved 2014-01-16.
  13. ^ Laboratory Bogdanov and party squatters
  14. ^ "Fraudulent party nominates namesakes in the Krasnodar Krai elections". Communist Party of the Russian Federation. 2012-08-22. Archived from the original on 2012-08-27. Retrieved 2013-01-07.
  15. ^ "All the participants of the race for governorship in Irkutsk Oblast were determined". www.nakanune.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-09-30.
  16. ^ "Shevchenko may be expelled from the Council of the Left Front after he headed the RPSS". Business Online (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-05-20.