Liberal Democratic Party of the Soviet Union


The Liberal Democratic Party of the Soviet Union, Liberal'no-Demokraticheskaya Partiya Sovetskava Soyuza was a political party in the Soviet Union which preceded the modern-day Liberal Democratic Party of Russia.

History

Creation

An effectively multi-party system emerged in Soviet Union in the late 1980s in wake of the Gorbachev reforms. In March 1990, Article 6 of the Soviet Constitution, which ensured the Communist Party of the Soviet Union a monopoly on power, was repealed. This gave room to the rise of other political parties, specifically the LDPSU. In April 1991, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia became the second officially registered party in the country. According to former CPSU Politburo member Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev, the new party was a joint project of CPSU leadership and the KGB. He described how KGB director Vladimir Kryuchkov presented the project of the puppet party at a meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev and informed him about his selection of LDPR leaders and the mechanism of funding.
KGB General Philipp Bobkov described the organization as "Zubatov's pseudo-party under KGB control that directs interests and sentiments of certain social groups".
The outspoken leader of LDPR, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, an effective media performer, gained 8% of votes during the 1991 presidential elections. He also supported the August 1991 coup attempt.