Democratic Choice of Russia
The Democratic Choice of Russia (DVR; Russian: Демократический выбор России; ДВР; Demokraticheskiy vybor Rossii, DVR), before 1994 Choice of Russia Bloc (VR; Russian: Блок «Выбор России»; ВР; Blok «Vybor Rossii», VR) was a Russian centre-right conservative-liberal political party. Later the party was self-disbanded and most members would merge into the Union of Right Forces.[1]
Democratic Choice of Russia Демократический выбор России | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | DVR (English) ДВР (Russian) |
| Leader | Yegor Gaidar |
| Founded | October 17, 1993 (Choice of Russia bloc) June 12, 1994 (Democratic Choice of Russia party) |
| Dissolved | May 19, 2001 |
| Succeeded by | Union of Right Forces |
| Headquarters | 23th Building, Profsoyuznaya Street, Moscow |
| Newspaper | "Democratic Choice", magazine "Open politics" |
| Ideology | Conservative liberalism Liberal conservatism |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| Colours | White Blue Red |
| Slogan | "Liberty, Property, Legality" (Russian: "Свобода, Собственность, Законность") |
| Seats in the 1st State Duma | 64 / 450
|
| Seats in the 2nd State Duma | 9 / 450
|
| Website | |
| dvr.ru | |
Background and establishment
At the elections to the State Duma held on December 12, 1993, the Choice of Russia bloc (the predecessor to the Democratic Choice of Russia) received 15.51% of the vote, and consequently, 40 seats in the State Duma.
On January 20, 1994, having lost influence over making economic decisions and opposed to the increase of budget expenditure, the leader of the Choice of Russia, Yegor Gaidar, resigned from the government headed by Viktor Chernomyrdin. At that point the Choice of Russia lost its status as a pro-government faction, yet at the same time it continued to support president Boris Yeltsin and Chernomyrdin's government by providing constructive criticism of their policies.
On 12–13 June 1994, the founding meeting of the party Democratic Choice of Russia was held. At the meeting, the party's programme was adopted and its governing bodies were set up. Yegor Gaidar was elected as party chairman.[2]
In 1995, the party contested the election in a coalition of (minor) like-minded groups, forming the Democratic Choice of Russia – United Democrats.[3]
Later, in 2001, it merged into the Union of Rightist Forces.[1]
Values
The party had valued ideas of both liberalism and conservatism. This included human rights, self-determination, a market economy, private capital investment, fair competition and the restriction of government regulations in the economy.
Election results
Presidential election
| Election | Candidate | First round | Second round | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| 1996 | Endorsed Boris Yeltsin | 26,665,495 | 35.32% |
40,402,349 | 53.82% |
Elected  |
| 2000 | Endorsed Vladimir Putin | 39,740,434 | 52.94% |
Elected | ||
References
- Abbas, Hassan (21 May 2001). "RUSSIA'S DEMOCRATIC CHOICE AND DEMOCRATIC RUSSIA DISBAND". Jamestown Foundation Monitor. 7 (98). Retrieved 26 December 2021.
- "Russian Reformers Form a New Party". New York Times. Associated Press. 13 June 1994. p. 8. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
- White, Stephen; Wyman, Matthew; Oates, Sarah (1997). "Parties and Voters in the 1995 Russian Duma Election". Europe-Asia Studies. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 49 (7): 767–798. doi:10.1080/09668139708412473. JSTOR 153485. Retrieved 26 December 2021.