The ruling party always has more power opportunities, but, accordingly, is under more public scrutiny. Many are still asking the question: "What is ER (United Russia)"? Maybe this is a weak reincarnation of the once powerful Communist Party of the Soviet Union, or is it still a party of a new democratic format?
Founding Party
At the founding of the ever-ruling party were three political heavyweights of the early 2000s: Yuri Luzhkov, Mintimer Shaimiev and Sergei Shoigu.
The first two have long since retired. And if the former president of Tatarstan went on a well-deserved rest with honor, as the first head of the republic, who did a lot for its prosperity. That "man in a cap" was retired due to "loss of confidence" and now breeds bees. But his wife turned out to be an amazingly talented lady. For many years she has been the richest woman in the country.
Only Sergei Shoigu is still "on horseback" and even increasedits political capital.
According to Tatyana Yumasheva (daughter of the first Russian President Boris Yeltsin), the infamous businessman Boris Berezovsky was at the origins of the creation of the "party of power". She also added that we must not forget the past, otherwise it will strongly resemble the CPSU (b), when the history of the party was carefully erased every time if the next leader suddenly turned out to be an enemy of the people. It may be necessary to take this into account when answering the question: "What is EP?" Although the party does not adorn such a founder in any way - a fugitive oligarch who committed suicide.
General information
The date of formation of the party is December 1, 2001, when three political forces united: the electoral blocs "Our Home - Russia" and "Fatherland - All Russia" and the "Unity" movement.
The first leaders of the new party "United Russia" (ER) were three founding co-chairs. The three-headed design was abolished in 2004, and Boris Gryzlov became the first sole chairman. Then V. Putin led the party, and from 2011 to the present, D. Medvedev has been the leader of United Russia.
What is EP in terms of ideology? For all the townsfolk, the party's line fluctuates along with the change in the course of its spiritual leader, Vladimir Putin. In the early years, the ideological platform was described as centrism and conservatism. Since 2015, the party has announcedthe official ideology is liberal conservatism.
One and indivisible
The ruling party has a total advantage in power structures, most of the governors represent United Russia. In all local legislative assemblies, the party has a majority. With the exception of one - the Irkutsk region, where the communists won.
Probably the best description of the party was former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. When asked what EP is, he replied that it reminded him of the worst copy of the CPSU. That it has more imitation than party work.
The party is consistently in the top of the polls in terms of popularity. Even when United Russia's (ER) rating fell to 31% after announcing its intention to carry out pension reform. The recorded current figure was the lowest since 2008. The maximum support of the ruling party by the population of the country at 55% was noted in 2015.
