Russian legislative election, 1995

Russian legislative election, 1995

December 17, 1995

All 450 seats to the State Duma 226 seats needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader Gennady Zyuganov Vladimir Zhirinovsky Party Communist Party LDPR Last election 42 64 Seats won 157 51 Seat change 115 13 Popular vote 15,432,963 7,737,431 Percentage 22.30% 11.18% Swing 9.9pp 11.74pp   Third party Fourth party   Leader Viktor Chernomyrdin Grigory Yavlinsky Party Our Home – Russia Yabloko Last election - 27 Seats won 55 45 Seat change 55 18 Popular vote 7,009,291 4,767,384 Percentage 10.13% 6.89% Swing - 0.97pp

Election results

Parliamentary elections were held in Russia on 17 December 1995.^[1] At stake were the 450 seats in the State Duma (Gosudarstvennaya Duma), the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia.

Rules

The election law adopted for the 1995 election was similar to that adopted for the 1993 election, with some minor modifications. First, to secure a place on the proportional representation ballot, parties had to have registered with the Ministry of Justice no later than six months before the election, and the number of signatures they had to gather rose from 100,000 to 200,000. Second, invalid votes were now included in the calculation of the 5.0 percent threshold. Third, on the single-member district ballot, party endorsements of candidates were indicated.

Campaign

Out of the forty three parties and coalitions contesting the elections, only four cleared the 5% threshold to qualify for the proportional seats.

Pro-Government parties

Our Home – Russia had weightier resources and soon acquired the nickname of “party of power” for its reliance on elite political and economic office holders. It was also referred to as “Our Home Is Gazprom” for its close ties to Gazprom’s substantial financial resources. Most of the cabinet ministers joined the bloc, and a number of business leaders and regional political elites affiliated with it. However, almost no other parties entered it, and many SMD candidates who had initially affiliated with the party soon left it. One of the early parties to enter the bloc, Sergei Shakhrai’s Party of Russian Unity and Accord, also deserted it in August.^[2] In the election, the Our Home Is Russia bloc took 10.1% of the vote, enough to form a faction in the Duma but not enough to serve as a dominant or pivotal force in parliament or in the regions. At its peak, the party claimed the membership of around one third of Russia’s governors. However, both the center and regional elites made only ephemeral commitments to Our Home is Russia.^[3]

Opposition parties

As a result of these elections, the Communists and their satellites, the Agrarians and other left-wing deputies, controlled a little less than the half of the seats. The populist LDPR occasionally sided with the left majority, but often supported the government. As in the previous Duma, the parliamentary groups of independent deputies had a significant influence on the balance of power in the parliament.

On January 17, 1996 a Communist, Gennady Seleznyov, was elected the Speaker of the Duma.

Results

Parliamentary Groups

References

Elections and referendums in Russia Presidential elections 1991 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2018 Legislative elections 1906 1907 (Jan) 1907 (Oct) 1912 1917 1938 1947 1951 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1980 1985 1990 1993 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 Gubernatorial elections 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2012 2013 2014 2015 Regional elections 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Referendums 1991 1993 (Apr) 1993 (Dec) See also: Elections and referendums in the Soviet Union