Union of Right Forces
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The Union of Right Forces, or SPS (Сою́з Пра́вых Сил, СПС/Soyuz Pravykh Sil), is a Russian democratic opposition party associated with free market reforms, privatization, and the legacy of the 'Young Reformers' of the 1990s: Anatoly Chubais, Boris Nemtsov, and Yegor Gaidar. Nikita Belykh is the party's leader. The Party is considered by most western media organs such as the Economist, and the BBC to be one of Russia's only parties that support western-style capitalism, and is often named a liberal party. Its headquarters are located in Moscow. It is affiliated to the International Democratic Union.
The Union of Right Forces was established in 1999, following a merger of several smaller liberal parties, including Democratic Choice of Russia and Democratic Russia. In the 1999 parliamentary elections the Union of Right Forces won 8.6% of the vote and 32 seats in the Russian State Duma (lower house of Parliament).
From 2000 to 2003 the Union of Right Forces was led by former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov. Under Nemtsov's leadership SPS strongly opposed the authoritarian policies of President Vladimir Putin and criticised the curtailing of political and media freedoms in Russia.
In the 2003 parliamentary elections the Union of Right Forces, according to official results, received 4% of the vote and failed to cross the 5% threshold necessary for parliamentary representation. However, many suspect foul play on the part of President Putin and his United Russia party in the counting of votes, since most major exit polls and recounts conducted by opposition activists placed SPS above the 5% hurdle. A number of SPS candidates came second in single-mandate electoral districts, such as Irina Khakamada in St. Petersburg, Vladimir V. Kara-Murza in Moscow, or Boris Nadezhdin in the Moscow region.
Despite the suspitions of fraud, Boris Nemtsov accepted responsibility for the election defeat and resigned as SPS leader in January 2004. On May 28, 2005 Nikita Belykh was elected as the new leader of the party.
See also
- Liberalism
- Contributions to liberal theory
- Liberalism worldwide
- List of liberal parties
- Liberal democracy
- Liberalism in Russia
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