Will Russia’s New Political Party encourage a new way to Russian Politics?

Currently, in Russia’s political system, the President of Russia, Vladamir Putin,  is head of state and of the multi-party system, with executive power exercised by the government. The government is further headed by the Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin, who is appointed by the President, with Parliaments approval. Recently, Russian citizens have been introduced to the ‘New People’s Party’, which was registered with authorities during March 2020. By August, the party saw a staggering 300,000 Russian’s signing nomination papers for their candidates, with the party aiming to put up 100 candidates in 13 of Russia’s regions. The party was originally founded by Alexey Nechayev, a businessman who is also the founder and driving force behind the beauty and apparel company, Faberlik.  The parties ideologies include Reformism, Communitarianism, Direct Democracy and Liberalism, all of which have grasped the attention of the Russian citizens. New Peoples Party has now become the most successful political project among the vast variety of new parties that emerged simultaneously around a year ago. After the election on September 13^th, the New Peoples Candidates won seats in four regional parliaments and the city council in Tomsk. Nechayev says “[they] barely failed to make the cut in Krasnodar, falling short of the 5 % barrier needed to be elected a city council by a hair”.  The party signals hope and candour within the country, as they aim to do politics, ‘the normal way’, by rejecting the ‘one-size fits all’ traditional Russian policy. The Party’s programme calls to make small but necessary improvements including: doubling the salary and improving social insurance packages for police officers, combatting low level corruption; keeping taxes low for the self-employed and many more. The party has, however caused tension and feelings of unease to rise throughout the political system, leading to the recent attempted murder of Alexey Nechayev himself. Many of his supporters have blamed the Kremlin, however all accusations have been denied. Should the Kremlin feel threatened by this new and upcoming party?

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