1995 Russian legislative election

1995 Russian legislative election

← 1993 17 December 1995 1999 →
All 450 seats in the State Duma 226 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	64.38% ( 9.57 pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Gennady Zyuganov Viktor Chernomyrdin Vladimir Zhirinovsky Party CPRF NDR LDPR Leader since 14 February 1993 12 May 1995 13 December 1989 Leader's seat Federal list Federal list Federal list Last election 42 seats, 11.55% New 64 seats, 21.35% Seats won 157 55 51 Seat change 115 New 13 Popular vote 15,432,963 7,009,291 7,737,431 Percentage 22.30% (PL) 10.13% (PL) 11.18% (PL) Swing 10.75% New 10.17%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Grigory Yavlinsky Mikhail Lapshin Yegor Gaidar Party Yabloko APR DVR–OD Leader since 16 October 1993 26 February 1993 26 August 1995 Leader's seat Federal list Federal list (lost) Federal list (lost) Last election 27 seats, 7.32% 38 seats, 7.44% 62 seats, 14.45% Seats won 45 20 9 Seat change 18 17 53 Popular vote 4,767,384 2,613,127 2,674,084 Percentage 6.89% (PL) 3.78% (PL) 3.86% (PL) Swing 0.43% 3.66% 10.59%   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Leader Nikolai Ryzhkov Yury Skokov Alevtina Fedulova Party Power to the People KRO Women of Russia Leader since 19 August 1995 27 January 1995 1 October 1993 Leader's seat Belgorod Federal list (lost) Federal list (lost) Last election New New 24 seats, 7.57% Seats won 9 5 3 Seat change New New 21 Popular vote 1,112,873 2,980,137 3,188,813 Percentage 1.62% (PL) 4.31% (PL) 4.61% (PL) Swing New New 2.96%
Winning party by region
Chairman of the State Duma before election Ivan Rybkin Ivan Rybkin Bloc Elected Chairman of the State Duma Gennadiy Seleznyov CPRF

Legislative election were held in Russia on 17 December 1995.^[1] At stake were the 450 seats in the State Duma (Gosudarstvennaya Duma), the lower house of the Federal Assembly.

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.

Out of the forty three parties and coalitions contesting the elections, only four cleared the 5% threshold to qualify for the proportional seats.

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.^[3] 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 Is 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 center and regional elites made only ephemeral commitments to Our Home is Russia.^[4][5]

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.