Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF)

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation is a systemic opposition party. The CPRF holds the second largest number of seats in the State Duma of the Russian Federation (57 out of 450). The party is represented in most regional parliaments but does not hold a majority in any of them. Two governors of Russian regions represent the CPRF.

The CPRF positions itself as the successor of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Since 1994, Gennady Zyuganov has been the sole chair of the party. Zyuganov will turn 80 in 2024.

Ideologically, the party is left-wing. The CPRF identifies itself as an opposition party. It has been participating in elections since the 1990s. In the last elections to the Russian State Duma in 2021, the CPRF gained 18.93% of the vote on party lists and won in 9 (out of 225) single-mandate districts.

The CPRF can be considered the main systemic opposition party in Russia. During the notorious pension reform 2018, the CPRF organized public protests against it. Apart from that, the party opposes the use of remote electronic voting (REV) in elections. In the 2024 presidential election, CPRF candidate Nikolai Kharitonov came second with 4.31 %, according to official CEC data.