# 1995 Russian legislative election

Legislative election was held in Russia on 17 December 1995. At stake were the 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly.

## Electoral system

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.

## Political blocs

Political parties and blocs in the 1995 election :
| # | Bloc | Abbr. | First troika | Political position | Ideologies |
| 1 | Women of Russia | ZhR | Alevtina Fedulova • Ekaterina Lakhova • Galina Klimantova | Centre | Women's rights / Pacifism |
| 2 | Social Patriotic Movement "Derzhava" | Derzhava | Alexander Rutskoy • Viktor Kobelev • Konstantin Dushenov | Right-wing | Russian nationalism / Social conservatism |
| 3 | Social Political Movement "Duma-96" | Duma-96 | Vladimir Burenin • Mikhail Simonov • Georgy Kondratyev | Centre | Centrism / Conservatism |
| 4 | Transformation of the Fatherland Transformation of the Fatherland, Free Democratic Party, All-Russian Party for Safety of Man | PO | Eduard Rossel • Yury Nozhikov • Viktor Yakimov | Centre | Regionalism / Autonomism |
| 5 | Tikhonov–Tupolev–Tikhonov Consolidation Party, League of Cooperatives and Entrepreneurs | TTT | Alexander Tikhonov • Aleksey Tupolev • Viktor Tikhonov | Centre | Centrism |
| 6 | Russian All-People's Movement | ROD | Alexander Bozhenov • Valery Moshnyakov • Vladimir Platonov | Centre | Cossacks interests |
| 7 | All-Russian Muslim Social Movement "Nur" | NUR | Halit Yakhin • Vafa Yarullin • Anver Shagidullin | Centre | Muslim interests / Islamic democracy |
| 8 | Federal Democratic Movement | FDD | Oleg Novikov • Oleg Kalugin • Rimma Kazakova | Centre | Federalism |
| 9 | Cause of Peter the First Tourist and Sports Union of Russia, Union of TV and Radio Broadcasting Workers, Consumer Society of Automobile Equipment | DPP | Valentin Dikul • Vadim Voevodin • Yan Koltunov | Right-wing | National conservatism / Monarchism |
| 10 | Interethnic Union Congress of Civic Concord, RHDP, Association of Koreans in Russia | MNS | Abdulah Mikitaev • Makhmut Gareev • Alexander Zaytsev | Centre | Multiculturalism |
| 11 | Socio-Political Movement "Stable Russia" | SR | Oleg Petrov • Elina Bystritskaya • Alexander Gorlov | Centre-right | Conservatism |
| 12 | Frontier Generations Socio-Political Youth Movement, MZhK Union of Russia | PR | Dmitry Solonnikov • Nikolay Pelepeshin • Marat Bariev | Centre | Youth politics |
| 13 | My Fatherland | MO | Boris Gromov • Stanislav Shatalin • Joseph Kobzon | Centre-left | Social democracy |
| 14 | For the Motherland! RSVA, NPP, New Russia | ZR | Vladimir Polevanov • Yevgeny Podkolzin • Eduard Baltin | Right-wing | Conservatism / Anti-Reformism |
| 15 | Common Cause Common Cause, Human Circle | OD | Irina Khakamada • Rolan Bykov • Vladimir Dzhanibekov | Centre-right | Liberalism |
| 16 | Bloc of Independents ODC, All-Russian Tatar Cultural and Educational Center | BN | Yevgeny Fyodorov • Ilya Roitman • Vladimir Komchatov | Centre-right | Conservatism |
| 17 | Our Home – Russia | NDR | Viktor Chernomyrdin • Nikita Mikhalkov • Lev Rokhlin | Centre-right | Liberal conservatism / Fiscal conservatism |
| 18 | Pamfilova–Gurov–Lysenko RPRF, Young Republicans Union | PGL | Ella Pamfilova • Alexander Gurov • Vladimir Lysenko | Centre-right | Classical liberalism / Atlanticism |
| 19 | "Yabloko" Social Association | Yabloko | Grigory Yavlinsky • Vladimir Lukin • Tatiana Yarygina | Centre-left | Social democracy / Social liberalism |
| 20 | Forward, Russia! | VR | Boris Fyodorov • Bela Denisenko • Alexander Vladislavlev | Centre-right | Liberal democracy / Liberal conservatism |
| 21 | 89 Regions of Russia VR, ANP | 89 | Pavel Medvedev (only elected deputy) | Centre | Regionalism |
| 22 | Ecological Party of Russia "KEDR" | KEDR | Anatoly Panfilov • Leonid Yakubovich • Artyom Tarasov | Centre | Green politics / Agrarianism |
| 23 | Democratic Choice of Russia – United Democrats DVR, KPR, RPSD, KNOR | DVR-OD | Yegor Gaidar • Sergei Kovalev • Lidiya Fedoseyeva-Shukshina | Centre-right | Liberal conservatism / Anti-communism |
| 24 | Party of Russian Unity and Accord | PRES | Sergey Shakhray • Valery Bykov • Vladimir Ivankov | Centre-right | Moderate liberalism / Conservatism / Regionalism |
| 25 | Communist Party of the Russian Federation | CPRF | Gennady Zyuganov • Svetlana Goryacheva • Aman Tuleyev | Left-wing to far-left | Communism / Marxism–Leninism / Left-wing nationalism |
| 26 | Stanislav Govorukhin Bloc All-Russian Trade Union Association, People's Alliance, RHDD | BSG | Stanislav Govorukhin • Oleg Rumyantsev • Viktor Aksyuchits | Right-wing | Statism / Conservatism |
| 27 | Association of Lawyers of Russia | AAR | Alexey Malayev • Gasan Mirzoyev • Anatoly Fedoseev | Centre | Rule of law |
| 28 | National Republican Party of Russia | NRPR | Nikolay Lysenko • Nikolay Pavlov • Konstantin Ovchinnikov | Far-right | Solzhenitsynism / Russian ultranationalism |
| 29 | Social Democrats SDS, Young Social Democrats of Russia, RDDR | SD | Gavriil Popov • Vasily Lipitsky • Oleg Bogomolov | Centre-left | Social democracy |
| 30 | Power to the People! ROS, Mothers for Social Justice | VN | Nikolai Ryzhkov • Sergey Baburin • Elena Shuvalova | Right-wing | Patriotism / Social conservatism / Pochvennichestvo |
| 31 | Congress of Russian Communities | KRO | Yury Skokov • Alexander Lebed • Sergey Glazyev | Right-wing to far-right | Russian nationalism / National conservatism |
| 32 | Trade Unions and Industrialists – Union of Labour ROPP, Trade Unions of Russia to the Polls | ST | Vladimir Scherbakov • Mikhail Shmakov • Arkady Volsky | Centre-left | Labourism / Industrialism |
| 33 | Liberal Democratic Party of Russia | LDPR | Vladimir Zhirinovsky • Sergey Abeltsev • Alexander Vengerovsky | Right-wing to far-right | Right-wing populism / Pan-Slavism |
| 34 | Bloc of Djuna Association of Military Journalists, AFZPP, ADVN, RKSP | Djuna | Eugenia Davitashvili • Andrey Volkov • Aleksandr Pankratov-Chyorny | Centre | Populism |
| 35 | Party of Workers' Self-Government | PST | Svyatoslav Fyodorov • Alexey Kazannik • Aleksandr Porokhovshchikov | Centre-left | Social democracy |
| 36 | Communists – Labour Russia – For the Soviet Union RKRP, RPK | KTR | Viktor Tyulkin • Anatoly Kryuchkov • Viktor Anpilov | Far-left | Communism / Marxism–Leninism / Anti-revisionism |
| 37 | Beer Lovers Party | PLP | Konstantin Kalachyov • Dmitry Shestakov • Andrey Palchevsky | Big tent | Joke party / Protectionism / Anti-establishment |
| 38 | Ivan Rybkin Bloc "Russia" People's Movement, Regions of Russia, RSM, Accord Movement, Union of Realists | BIR | Ivan Rybkin • Yury Petrov • Artur Chilingarov | Centre-left | Agrarianism / Social democracy |
| 39 | Party of Economic Freedom | PES | Konstantin Borovoi • Leonid Nekrasov • Vladimir Kovalyonok | Centre-right | Liberalism / Neoconservatism / Economic liberalism |
| 40 | People's Union | NS | Vladimir Lukyanov • Dmitry Galagan • Gennady Mironov | Big tent | Interests of defrauded depositors |
| 41 | Agrarian Party of Russia | APR | Mikhail Lapshin • Aleksandr Nazarchuk • Vasily Starodubtsev | Left-wing | Agrarian socialism / Collectivism |
| 42 | Christian Democratic Union – Christians of Russia | HDS | Vitaly Savitsky • Tatiana Ivanova • Alexander Kisilyov | Centre-right | Christian democracy |
| 43 | Union of Workers of Housing and Communal Services | SRZhKKh | Leonid Chernyshov • Pyotr Suvorov • Valery Avdeyev | Big tent | ZhKKh workers' interests |

## 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 1995. The party program called for "stability and development, democracy and patriotism, confidence and order" as well as "pragmatism" and "a civilized market". Other proposals were contradictory as the party proposed, among other things, to encourage foreign investment while protecting Russian manufacturers, and to promote agricultural reform while regulating land ownership.
In the election, the Our Home – Russia bloc took 10.1% of the vote, enough to form a faction in the State 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 federal center and regional elites made only ephemeral commitments to Our Home – Russia.

### 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

| Party | Party | Party-list | Party-list | Party-list | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Total seats | +/– |
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Total seats | +/– |
| | Communist Party | 15,432,963 | 22.73 | 99 | 8,636,392 | 12.78 | 58 | 157 | +115 |
| | Liberal Democratic Party | 7,737,431 | 11.40 | 50 | 3,801,971 | 5.63 | 1 | 51 | –11 |
| | Our Home – Russia | 7,009,291 | 10.33 | 45 | 3,808,745 | 5.64 | 10 | 55 | New |
| | Yabloko | 4,767,384 | 7.02 | 31 | 2,209,945 | 3.27 | 14 | 45 | +18 |
| | Women of Russia | 3,188,813 | 4.70 | 0 | 712,072 | 1.05 | 3 | 3 | –21 |
| | Communists and Working Russia for the Soviet Union | 3,137,406 | 4.62 | 0 | 1,276,655 | 1.89 | 1 | 1 | New |
| | Congress of Russian Communities | 2,980,137 | 4.39 | 0 | 1,987,665 | 2.94 | 5 | 5 | New |
| | Party of Workers' Self-Government | 2,756,954 | 4.06 | 0 | 475,007 | 0.70 | 1 | 1 | New |
| | Democratic Choice of Russia – United Democrats | 2,674,084 | 3.94 | 0 | 1,819,330 | 2.69 | 9 | 9 | –53 |
| | Agrarian Party of Russia | 2,613,127 | 3.85 | 0 | 4,066,214 | 6.02 | 20 | 20 | –18 |
| | Derzhava | 1,781,233 | 2.62 | 0 | 420,860 | 0.62 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Forward, Russia! | 1,343,428 | 1.98 | 0 | 1,054,577 | 1.56 | 3 | 3 | New |
| | Power to the People | 1,112,873 | 1.64 | 0 | 1,345,905 | 1.99 | 9 | 9 | New |
| | Pamfilova–Gurov–Lysenko | 1,106,812 | 1.63 | 0 | 476,721 | 0.71 | 2 | 2 | New |
| | Trade Unions and Industrialists – Union of Labour | 1,076,072 | 1.59 | 0 | 584,063 | 0.86 | 1 | 1 | New |
| | Environmental Party of Russia "Kedr" | 962,195 | 1.42 | 0 | 304,896 | 0.45 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Ivan Rybkin Bloc | 769,259 | 1.13 | 0 | 1,073,580 | 1.59 | 3 | 3 | New |
| | Stanislav Govorukhin Bloc | 688,496 | 1.01 | 0 | 483,281 | 0.72 | 1 | 1 | New |
| | My Fatherland | 496,276 | 0.73 | 0 | 351,911 | 0.52 | 1 | 1 | New |
| | Common Cause | 472,615 | 0.70 | 0 | 148,584 | 0.22 | 1 | 1 | New |
| | Beer Lovers Party | 428,727 | 0.63 | 0 | 57,946 | 0.09 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | All Russian Muslim Public Movement "Nur" | 393,513 | 0.58 | 0 | 49,689 | 0.07 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Transformation of the Fatherland | 339,654 | 0.50 | 0 | 227,822 | 0.34 | 1 | 1 | New |
| | National Republican Party | 331,700 | 0.49 | 0 | 27,197 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Block of Djuna | 323,232 | 0.48 | 0 | | | | 0 | New |
| | Party of Russian Unity and Accord | 245,977 | 0.36 | 0 | 285,654 | 0.42 | 1 | 1 | –22 |
| | Russian Lawyers' Association | 242,966 | 0.36 | 0 | 96,046 | 0.14 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | For the Motherland! | 194,254 | 0.29 | 0 | 213,723 | 0.32 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Christian-Democratic Union – Christians of Russia | 191,446 | 0.28 | 0 | 102,335 | 0.15 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Cause of Peter the First | 145,704 | 0.21 | 0 | 51,928 | 0.08 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | People's Union | 130,728 | 0.19 | 0 | 70,685 | 0.10 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Tikhonov–Tupolev–Tikhonov Bloc | 102,039 | 0.15 | 0 | 65,458 | 0.10 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Russian Union of Workers of ZhKKh | 97,274 | 0.14 | 0 | 115,386 | 0.17 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Social Democrats | 88,642 | 0.13 | 0 | 233,269 | 0.35 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Party of Economic Freedom | 88,416 | 0.13 | 0 | 199,150 | 0.29 | 1 | 1 | New |
| | Russian All-People's Movement | 86,422 | 0.13 | 0 | 224,779 | 0.33 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Bloc of Independents | 83,742 | 0.12 | 0 | 375,287 | 0.56 | 1 | 1 | New |
| | Federal Democratic Movement | 82,948 | 0.12 | 0 | 86,519 | 0.13 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Sociopolitical Movement "Stable Russia" | 81,285 | 0.12 | 0 | 159,226 | 0.24 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Duma-96 | 55,897 | 0.08 | 0 | 108,672 | 0.16 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Frontier Generations | 44,202 | 0.07 | 0 | 13,429 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Bloc '89 | 40,840 | 0.06 | 0 | 175,459 | 0.26 | 1 | 1 | New |
| | Interethnic Union | 39,592 | 0.06 | 0 | 169,746 | 0.25 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | All-Russian Sociopolitical Movement of Transport Workers | | | | 162,263 | 0.24 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Democratic Russia and Free Trade-Unions | | | | 158,040 | 0.23 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Sociopolitical Movement "Education is Russia's Future" | | | | 129,399 | 0.19 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Union of Patriots | | | | 118,441 | 0.18 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Union of Russian Moslems | | | | 65,688 | 0.10 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Party "Union of Communists" | | | | 62,181 | 0.09 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Party of Supporters of Tax Reduction | | | | 61,519 | 0.09 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Party "Democratic Alternative" | | | | 61,252 | 0.09 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Conservative Party | | | | 57,351 | 0.08 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Russian Party | | | | 43,221 | 0.06 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Union of Patriotic Orthodox Organisations | | | | 42,269 | 0.06 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Party "Economic Alternative" | | | | 37,622 | 0.06 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | We are Serving for Russia! | | | | 35,535 | 0.05 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | League of Independent Scientists | | | | 28,666 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Social Alliance "Revival" | | | | 27,032 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Russian Union of Local Self-Government | | | | 21,427 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Our Future | | | | 18,488 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Faith, Labour, Conscience | | | | 14,639 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Russian Party of Car Owners | | | | 8,088 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | People's Salvation Front | | | | 1,881 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Workers' Collectives and Greens for the Union of Co-Owners | | | | 1,442 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | European Liberal Democratic Party | | | | 154 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Independents | | | | 21,620,835 | 31.99 | 77 | 77 | –58 |
| Against all | Against all | 1,918,151 | 2.83 | – | 6,660,495 | 9.85 | – | – | – |
| Total | Total | 67,884,200 | 100.00 | 225 | 67,585,707 | 100.00 | 225 | 450 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 67,884,200 | 98.09 | | 67,585,707 | 97.71 | | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 1,320,619 | 1.91 | | 1,582,227 | 2.29 | | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 69,204,819 | 100.00 | | 69,167,934 | 100.00 | | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 107,496,856 | 64.38 | | 107,496,856 | 64.34 | | | |
| Source: University of Essex, Nohlen & Stöver ||||||||||

## Parliamentary groups

| Parliamentary group | Parliamentary group | Leader | Seats (Jan.'96) |
| Communist Party of the Russian Federation | Communist Party of the Russian Federation | Gennady Zyuganov | 139 |
| Our Home - Russia | Our Home - Russia | Sergei Belyaev | 65 |
| Liberal Democratic Party of Russia | Liberal Democratic Party of Russia | Vladimir Zhirinovsky | 49 |
| Yabloko | Yabloko | Grigory Yavlinsky | 45 |
| "Regions of Russia (Independent Deputies)" | "Regions of Russia (Independent Deputies)" | Oleg Morozov | 44 |
| People's Power | People's Power | Nikolai Ryzhkov | 41 |
| Agrarian Group | Agrarian Group | Nikolay Kharitonov | 35 |
| Democratic Choice of Russia (unregistered) | Democratic Choice of Russia (unregistered) | Sergey Yushenkov | 6 |
| Independents | Independents | | 19 |
| Total | Total | | 450 |