Gennady Zyuganov, a member of the State Duma since 1993, leader of the Communist Party and four-time Russian presidential candidate, has taken positions on many political issues through his public comments, his presidential campaign statements, and his voting record.
During the 1980s, Zyuganov was an ardent opponent of reforms introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev, such as glasnost and perestroika.
As leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Zyuganov has been widely considered to be a nationalist.
Constitutional reforms In his earlier career, Zyuganov opposed strong executive authority. He held a position in which he evoked Lenin's slogan "all power to the soviets" in order to illustrate a desire for an executive branch subordinate to the legislature, as is the case in Great Britain. Zyuganov also proposed strengthening legislative control, particularly the role of the legislature in confirming cabinet members.
For his 1996 campaign, Zyuganov abandoned his previous stance on executive authority. Instead, Zyuganov adopted a new policy favoring a non-subordinate executive branch. While still rallying against "excessive" concentration of executive authority, Zyuganov now expressed his desire for the Russian president to have "twice" the power of the French president and "four times" that of the American president.
Zyuganov's Communist Party had earlier opposed a "strong presidency", and Zyuganov criticized the "excessive" concentration of executive power afforded by the constitution adopted by Russia in 1993. However, during his 1996 campaign, he advocated neither replacing the existing constitution by revolution or by calling a new constitutional convention. Instead, he desired to modify the existing constitution by amending it according to its rules. However, the political reality of achieving this made it relatively unlikely, as the constitution's amendment process is difficult.
In 1996 he sought to establish a strong central government.
In 1996 Zyuganov also sought to reestablish the office of Vice President and to make all governorships elected positions (as opposed to appointed positions).
However, on April 11, 1996, Gennadii Seleznev told Izvestiyaon that within a two or three year timeframe, Zyuganov (contrarily to his public stance) planned to dismantle the presidency. According to Seleznev, Zyuganov would transform Russia's government into a parliamentary system.
More recently, Zyuganov has proposed introducing regular referendums to give more power to the public.
Economic policy In his 1996 campaign Zyuganov admonished the ongoing decline of Russia's economy. Zyuganov promised that he would turn around Russia's economy. Zyuganov called for the reversal of such reforms as privatization of state-run industries and pledged to restore state control of the economy. He assured voters that a powerful state sector would serve its economy well. Much of Zyuganov's campaign focused on the decline of the general standard of living and of industrial production in Russia. Zyuganov promised that he would cure the nation's economic maladies by stimulating both agricultural and industrial production. He also promised that he would restore guaranteed employment and guaranteed pay.
In 1996, Zyuganov's Communist Party proposed reinstating the State Planning Committee. The party proposed that such a measure would allow the private sector to be strictly regulated, arguing that government intervention would boost industrial production.
During his 2012 campaign, Zyuganov pledged to stop Russia's economic decline by ushering a return to socialism.
Agriculture During the 1995 legislative election, the Communist Party had aggressively courted the rural vote. In 1996, the Communists renewed much of their 1995 platform in regards to agricultural policy. This policy focused on the "scissors", the gap between the high input expenses in agriculture and the below-market prices that the state paid for crops. The Communists promised to end this by lowering the costs of inputs and protecting Russian crops from foreign competition.
In the speeches that he delivered to rural audiences during his 1996 campaign, Zyuganov criticized Russia's declining agricultural production. He also voiced outrage at the lack of state support for rural regions. Zyuganov went as far as claiming that, due to their outcome, policies neglecting rural areas of Russia qualified as acts of genocide.
Zyuganov strongly opposed the sale of agricultural land, but supported the awarding of lifetime leases of land.
Most other presidential candidates and parties in 1996 largely disregarded agricultural policy in their platforms. However, the Communist Party made it one of the main focuses of their platform.
During his 2012 campaign, Zyuganov advocated renationalizing the agricultural sector of Russia's economy.
Industry In the 1996 campaign speeches that he delivered to urban audiences, Zyuganov criticized Russia's declining industrial production. Zyuganov expressed a particular interest in protecting the nation's military industries, declaring,
In 1996, Zyuganov's Communist Party proposed that, instead of following the International Monetary Fund's program for the country to develop a free market economy, Russia would instead implement large government investments in industries as well as protective tariffs against foreign competition. They also called for export tariffs on oil and gas in order to procure government revenue.
In 1996, Zyuganov did not advocate nationalizing small industries. However, the Communist Party's platform did envision state ownership of infrastructure industries, such as energy, transportation, and communications. It also envisioned state ownership for other industries of strategic importance, such as the defense industry. Furthermore, the party's economic administrator at the time had expressed a desire to also nationalize the exporting metallurgy industry. In 1996, Zyuganov additionally promised to implement a state monopoly of the alcohol industry in order to increase federal revenues.
Zyuganov's 2000 platform similarly advocated for a "regulated market", in which the state would hold a controlling share in certain key sectors of the economy, such as the energy, transport and military industries. At the same time, in an adaption of trickle-down economics, Zyuganov proposed cutting taxes on domestic industry in half. He additionally proposed cuts to energy, transport and communications tariffs.
Zyuganov has continued to advocate the nationalization of major industries, such as oil and gas and other industries related to the extraction of natural resources. His main economic proposal was reportedly the nationalisation of Russia's natural resources, while his foreign policy aims include "increasing the role of the UN... and restricting the influence of Nato".
In his 2012 campaign platform, Zyuganov pledged to restore industries he believed were in "deep crisis", such as shipbuilding, the defense industry and agriculture. Additionally, in order to aid Russia's defense industry, he proposed implementing a complete ban on the mass purchase of foreign-made military equipment.
Ownership During his 1996 campaign, Zyuganov, pledged to preserve a bulk of the forms of ownership of economic enterprises that had been allowed, including private ownership. However, as a communist, he expected that, "the leading role of socialist forms of ownership will clearly come to prominence".http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/RP96-70/RP96-70.pdf
Zyuganov spoke of reversing-course and reinstating government controls on the nation's economy. Zyuganov's Communist Party did not entirely oppose privatization. Instead, the party emphasized the importance of developing an economy with many different forms of ownership, including state, cooperative, and private ownership. Sweden, Austria and other Western European nations with mixed economies were pointed to as models to illustrate this vision.
During his 1996 campaign, Zyuganov discussed using implementing controls in lieu of state ownership of small enterprises. However, the Communist Party did envision state ownership of infrastructure industries, such as energy, transportation, and communications.
As is mentioned in the section on agriculture, Zyuganov was strongly opposed to the sale of agricultural land. However, he did support the awarding of lifetime leases of land. The Communist Party issued proposals in 1996 that would ban the ownership of land, with the exception of small garden plots.
In an interview given on May 12, 1996, Zyuganov tied socialist state-ownership with Russia's national character, saying,
Zyuganov's 1996 economic platform also focused on issues such as inequity and corruption that had arisen in the privatization process. Zyuganov pledged to overturn privatization that had taken place illegally.
In his trips abroad during his 1996 campaign, Zyuganov attempted to quell concerns that he would be hostile towards foreign investment. He would insist that he desired to maintain friendly business climate in Russia. In his February 1, New York Times op-ed, Zyuganov stated that he would pursue economic cooperation and exchanges with the west, but added,
While Zyuganov would talk to foreign investors about economic reform and political pluralism, at his own campaign rallies he denounced capitalism.
While he and his party were not proposing an outright ban on foreign investments (and insisted they would welcome foreign investment), the Communist Party did propose legislation in 1996 that would severely limit the foreign-owned market share of the Russian economy. For instance, legislation was proposed to restrict foreign-made entertainment to make up no more than 20 percent of all television programming in Russia. Additionally, they proposed legislation which would ban foreign entities from purchasing ownership of Russian land, natural resources or energy complexes. Additionally, the legislation would have banned foreign entities from purchasing controlling interests in "key industries of the basic branches of the economy."
By 2000, Zyuganov remained steadfast in his opposition to private ownership of agricultural land. He also advocated instating a state monopoly on alcohol and tobacco.
In his 2012 campaign, Zyuganov again proposed renationalizing industries involving natural resource extraction. He also proposed renationalizing the agricultural and defense sectors of the nation's economy.
Zyuganov has alleged that Yeltsin dismantled the Congress of People's Deputies of Russia because he saw it as the final obstruction to, "thuggish privatization and stealing of the people’s property".
Retirement In 2018, Zyuganov denounced government plans to raise the retirement age, and suggested for a referendum to be held on the matter.
Taxes At the time of his 2000 presidential campaign, in an adaption of trickle-down economics, Zyuganov proposed cutting taxes on domestic industry in half.
Zyuganov has been a proponent of implementing a 20% tax on all capital outflows.
In his 2012 campaign, Zyuganov promised to lower most citizens' taxes by implementing a progressive taxation regime and to instituting new government price-control mechanisms on necessities.
Wages At the time of his 2000 presidential campaign Zyuganov proposed increasing minimum wages. His proposed minimum wage increases would equal $500 per month for doctors and teachers and $450 for others, a significant increase from the existing minimum wage, which equaled just $300.
Foreign policy Zyuganov's foreign policy is strongly nationalist and anti-western.
On February 1, 1996, an op-ed authored by Zyuganov was published in The New York Times largely outlining Zyuganov's planned foreign policy. Zyuganov wrote,