re: #66 HappyWarrior

Who are the other parties? I really don’t know too much about post fall of USSR- Russian politics. Know a little about Yelsin and Putin but other than that my knowledge is pretty limited.

If you mean the ones in Duma:

1. Spravedlivaya Rossiya (Just Russia) - a moderate socialist party (part of the Socialist International, IIRC), run by a now former speaker of the Council of the Federation Mironov. It was created from above as a sort of a phony opposition to UR, with Mironov being loyal to Putin, but always saying harsh things about UR (which Putin heads). Recently he has been removed from his post as a speaker, the future of the party is uncertain.

2. Zhirinovsky’s Liberal Democrats, the phony/loyal “nationalist” opposition (Zhirik always lambasts everyone and always votes as the current leader needs; e.g. he supported Yeltsin in 1996).

3. CPRF, fucking Stalinist douches (but also a true opposition).

There’s a new party being created from above, “Pravoye delo” (“The right deed”/”The right cause”), a fiscally right-wing party now headed by oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov. Apparently those who run elections will give them some votes to get into Duma. Some say it is being positioned as Medvedev’s party.