The Other Russia
Encyclopedia
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
. The coalition brings together representatives from a wide variety of political and human rights movements, national-bolsheviks and Communist groups (though the Communist Party of the Russian Federation
Communist Party of the Russian Federation
The Communist Party of the Russian Federation is a Russian political party. It is the second major political party in the Russian Federation.-History:...
is conspicuously absent), as well as individual citizens.
The group includes both left and right-wing opposition leaders as well as mainstream liberals such as former world chess champion
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
and United Civil Front
United Civil Front
United Civil Front is a social movement in Russia founded and led by chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov. It is part of The Other Russia, an opposition coalition active in Moscow...
leader Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
, National Bolshevik Party leader Eduard Limonov
Eduard Limonov
Eduard Limonov is Russian writer and political dissident, and is the founder and leader of radical National Bolshevik Party. An opponent of Vladimir Putin, Limonov is one of leaders of Other Russia political bloc.-Early life:...
, and far-left Vanguard of Red Youth
Vanguard of Red Youth
Vanguard of Red Youth ), is a radical Russian communist youth group. Its website describes it as an "independent youth organization, entering the all-Russian public political motion." Its "territory of action" is Russia, which it insists is still the heart and soul of "the republic of the USSR."...
.
History
The Other Russia was formed during a constitutional meeting on July 11-July 12, 2006, (during the G8 summitG8
The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for the governments of seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1997, the group added Russia, thus becoming the G8...
) in Moscow. Western diplomats, including British Ambassador to Russia Anthony Brenton, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Barry Lowenkron
Barry Lowenkron
Barry Lowenkron is an American specialist in foreign relations. He is Vice President of the Program on Global Security & Sustainability at the MacArthur Foundation....
, and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried
Daniel Fried
Daniel Fried is a senior career diplomat of the United States who carries the rank of Ambassador. He is presently serving as a Special Envoy to facilitate the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp located in Cuba. Previously, he was the top U.S. diplomat in Europe, and prior to that he was...
, were attending the conference. The two main liberal parties, Yabloko
Yabloko
The Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" The Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" The Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" (Russian: Росси́йская объединённая демократи́ческая па́ртия «Я́блоко» Rossiyskaya obyedinyonnaya demokraticheskaya partiya "Yabloko"; is a Russian social...
and the Union of Right Forces
Union of Right Forces
The Union of Right Forces, or SPS , was 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 was the last party's leader...
, were boycotting the event over the participation of what they consider to be nationalist and extremist groups.
During the summer of 2006, the society prepared a "coalition of national harmony", designed to accumulate common positions among its members. Work on several agenda items are discussed in specialized work groups. The final text was presented for a general discussion at a meeting on November 22, 2006. On September 25, 2006, The Other Russia was declared a "national forum".
On December 16, 2006, the first joint political rally took place in Moscow, named "March of the Discontented". The name was first used by Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
in 2005. Later, on March 3, 2007, the next "March of the Discontented" took place in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, which was the largest opposition rally made in recent years in Russia.
A further "March of the Discontented" took place on April 14, 2007 in Moscow. Several people, including Garry Kasparov and former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov
Mikhail Kasyanov
Mikhail Mikhailovich Kasyanov - was the Prime Minister of Russia from May 2000 to February 2004.He is the leader of the People's Democratic Union and an ex-member of the opposition coalition "The Other Russia".-Political career:...
, were arrested, but released some hours later. Another rally was held on April 15 in Saint Petersburg.
Key people
- Lyudmila AlexeyevaLyudmila AlexeyevaLyudmila Mikhailovna Alexeyeva is a Russian historian, human rights activist, founding member of the Moscow Helsinki Watch Group, and one of the few veterans of the Soviet dissident movement still active in modern Russia.-Soviet period:...
(Moscow Helsinki GroupMoscow Helsinki GroupThe Moscow Helsinki Group is an influential human rights monitoring non-governmental organization, originally established in what was then the Soviet Union; it still operates in Russia....
) - Mikhail DelyaginMikhail DelyaginMikhail Gennadyevich Delyagin , born 1968, is a modern Russian author, politician and economist. Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Science. Delyagin took part in the experts team by the Supreme soviet council from 1990 to 1991 and obtained an academic degree in economics in 1998...
(Institute for Globalization Issues) - Yuri Dzhibladze (Center for Development of Democracy and Human Rights)
- Viktor GerashchenkoViktor GerashchenkoViktor Vladimirovich Gerashchenko , byname Gerakl , was the Chairman of the Soviet and then Russian Central Bank during much of the Perestroika and post-Perestroika periods....
(RodinaRodinaRodina or Motherland-National Patriotic Union was one of the four parties that controlled seats in the Russian legislature in 2003-2007...
, former Chairman of the Soviet and Russian Central Bank) - Andrei Illarionov (Former senior economic advisor to the president)
- Garry KasparovGarry KasparovGarry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
(United Civil FrontUnited Civil FrontUnited Civil Front is a social movement in Russia founded and led by chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov. It is part of The Other Russia, an opposition coalition active in Moscow...
) - Eduard LimonovEduard LimonovEduard Limonov is Russian writer and political dissident, and is the founder and leader of radical National Bolshevik Party. An opponent of Vladimir Putin, Limonov is one of leaders of Other Russia political bloc.-Early life:...
(National Bolshevik Party) - Yelena Lukyanova (Law Professor at Moscow State UniversityMoscow State UniversityLomonosov Moscow State University , previously known as Lomonosov University or MSU , is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be one of the oldest university in Russia and to have the tallest educational building in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy...
) - Vladimir RyzhkovVladimir RyzhkovVladimir Aleksandrovich Ryzhkov is a Russian Professor of the Higher School of Economics , Russian independent politician, Russian State Duma member ....
(RPR - Republican Party of the Russian FederationRepublican Party of the Russian FederationThe Republican Party of the Russian Federation is a pro-reform and pro-democracy political party in the RSFSR and later in the Russian Federation. Nowadays, the party still exists . It is led by Vladimir Ryzhkov and opposes the Putin regime...
) - Georgy SatarovGeorgy SatarovGeorgy Alexandrovich Satarov , is a Russian mathematician, politician, political scientist and a former aide to Russia President Boris Yeltsin...
(Information Science for Democracy - INDEM) - Sergei Udaltsov (Vanguard of Red YouthVanguard of Red YouthVanguard of Red Youth ), is a radical Russian communist youth group. Its website describes it as an "independent youth organization, entering the all-Russian public political motion." Its "territory of action" is Russia, which it insists is still the heart and soul of "the republic of the USSR."...
/Left FrontLeft Front (Russia)The Left Front is a revolutionary anti-capitalist united front encompassing a range of far-left and ultra-left political organisations in Russia, as well as other countries of the former Soviet Union...
/Russian United Labour Front)
Former members
- Mikhail KasyanovMikhail KasyanovMikhail Mikhailovich Kasyanov - was the Prime Minister of Russia from May 2000 to February 2004.He is the leader of the People's Democratic Union and an ex-member of the opposition coalition "The Other Russia".-Political career:...
(People's Democratic Union (Russia)People's Democratic Union (Russia)The People's Democratic Union is a liberal opposition political party in Russia. Member of opposition coalition The Other Russia. The party was founded by former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov after he failed to win the leadership of the Democratic Party of Russia...
, former Prime Minister); due to The Other Russia failure to agree on a single presidential candidate Kasyanov leaves The Other Russia in July 2007.
External links
- The Other Russia - Official site Другая Россия - Official site Сайт «Марш несогласных» - March of the Discontented Итоговое заявление участников конференции «Другая Россия» Concluding statement by the participants, www.kasparov.ru Limonov vs. Putin