The formation of a presidential form of government in our country was not an easy process, it happened relatively recently. At first, Russia was a monarchical power, headed by the tsar, and power was inherited. After the Great October Socialist Revolution took place, power in the state, called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), began to belong to the Communist Party. The Secretary General became the head of the country.
This position lasted until Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev came to power, who introduced the post of President of the Soviet Union in the state. He became both the first and the last president of this state. In the future, the position of the head of state was determined by presidential elections. Years in Russia, who participated and the results of voting are the subject of this article.
The very first presidential elections in Russia
The very first presidential elections were held in June 1991, as a result of which a high-rankingBoris Yeltsin was elected to the post. It should be noted that at that time Russia was a republic within the Soviet Union and was called the RSFSR. Mikhail Gorbachev did not take part in these elections. Presidential elections were scheduled according to the results of the referendum held in March of the same year.
There were six presidential candidates. Boris Yeltsin won by a margin from the rest of the contenders, among whom were Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Nikolai Ryzhkov, Aman Tuleev, Albert Makashov, and Vadim Bakatin. All these figures have left their mark in the political life of the country to one degree or another. For example, Zhirinovsky came to the State Duma in 1993 at the head of his party - the Liberal Democratic Party - and has remained there to this day. Ryzhkov was also elected to the State Duma, and Tuleev became the governor of the Kemerovo region.
1996 presidential election
The next presidential election took place five years after the very first election of the head of the country. Their result was the re-election of Boris Yeltsin.
Today, many argue about whether these elections were fair, whether there were frauds and falsifications. The fact is that at the time of 1995 the rating of the incumbent president was very low and amounted to about 3-6 percent. Also this year, elections to the State Duma were held, and the Communist Party (KPRF), led by Zyuganov, won the majority of votes. It was expected that he would become the favorite of the 1996 presidential race. According to the results of the first round of elections, out of 11 candidates, two gained an advantage - Gennady Zyuganov andBoris Yeltsin. As a result, a second round was appointed, during which Yeltsin became president of Russia.
Among some supporters of the communist idea, there is an opinion that the elections were rigged, and Zyuganov won the real victory, refusing to “fight to the end.”
In 1999, during the New Year greetings, Boris Yeltsin announced to the country that he was voluntarily resigning. Vladimir Putin was appointed acting.
Turn of the century presidential election: 2000
The result of Yeltsin's resignation was early presidential elections held at the end of March 2000. At the start of the election campaign, 33 applications were submitted, among which 28 people were nominated by initiative civil groups, and the remaining five were nominated by political organizations and parties. Vladimir Putin was nominated not on behalf of a political party, but on behalf of an initiative group. Subsequently, 12 participants remained - the rest were not registered for one reason or another, but only 11 people took part in the elections. Shortly before voting day, one of the candidates withdrew his candidacy.
The 2000 presidential election brought victory to Vladimir Putin. Second place went to Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the Communists.
Election-2004
After a four-year term, a new election campaign for the election of the President of the country began. In mid-March 2004, presidential elections were held. The candidates essentially did not represent any serious competition for the incumbentleader of the country Vladimir Putin, which allowed him to be re-elected for a second term. It should be noted that this time the Communist Party nominated Nikolai Kharitonov instead of the unchanged Gennady Zyuganov. The Liberal Democratic Party acted in the same way - instead of Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Oleg Malyshkin participated in the elections. There were also candidates such as Irina Khakamada, Sergei Mironov and Sergei Glazyev.
Elections-2008. New president
According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the president has no right to run for a third term. In connection with this fact, the opinion was discussed in society, which of the candidates would be the "successor" of Vladimir Putin. At first it was assumed that Sergey Ivanov would become "Putin's candidate", but then the figure of Dmitry Medvedev appeared on the political arena. He was nominated by the United Russia political party. In addition to him, Gennady Zyuganov from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Zhirinovsky from the Liberal Democratic Party and Andrei Bogdanov, a representative of the Democratic Party of Russia, but who ran as an independent candidate, took part. Thus, there were only four names on the ballot.
At the very beginning of March, on the 2nd, the presidential elections were held. The results were quite predictable - Putin's henchman, Dmitry Medvedev, won. The second place was taken by Zyuganov, the third by Zhirinovsky, respectively, the last one was Bogdanov.
Third term of Vladimir Putin
The next presidential election in Russia took place in March 2012. Vladimir Putin, who during the reign of Medvedev occupied the chair of the prime minister,decided to participate. The text of the Constitution was interpreted as follows, which states that the president cannot be elected for more than two consecutive terms. As a result, an opinion appeared that after Medvedev's presidency, the third term is obtained "not in a row", and Vladimir Putin calmly put forward his candidacy for the elections. In addition to him, four more candidates took part - Zyuganov, Zhirinovsky, Mironov, as well as Mikhail Prokhorov, who was nominated in the order of self-nomination. The result was the victory of Putin, who is president to this day.
It should be noted that a number of public and political figures recognized the elections as illegal, including because Putin, who had already served as president twice, took part in them. On the eve of the inauguration, on May 6, a protest rally took place in Moscow, which grew into riots. However, this did not give any results, except for detentions and prison terms for participants.
When is the next election?
In 2008, a law was passed, according to which the term of office of the president was not 4 years, but as much as 6 years. As a result, the next presidential elections in Russia will take place only in 2018. At the moment, it is not known who exactly will take part in them. Whether Vladimir Putin will run for a “second” term, whether the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Liberal Democratic Party will nominate their leaders or choose new candidates are questions that still have no answers.
