Communists of Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast

The Communists of Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast (CPLO or CP; ; Kommunisty Peterburga i Leningradskoy oblasti, KPLO, KP) is an interregional public organization that was founded on April 12, 2003.Еженедельник Дело: "Коммунисты Петербурга пошли другим путём" Officially to the system of the Rosreestr on November 24, 2003.Сайт КПЛО: свидетельство о регистрации ФРС The basis of the organization "Communists of Petersburg" in 2003, the branch of communist youth St. Petersburg branch of communist youth, as well as members of regional CPRF committees from some districts of St. Petersburg.Состоится первая конференция общественной организации Коммунисты Петербурга // Закс.Ру

The organization gained its main popularity thanks to various outrageous statements and provocative actions.Питерские коммунисты возмущены переименованием Ленинградского вокзала // РИА Новости There is an opinion that the CPLO functions as a clownish organization, whose task is to provoke and discredit the communists by disseminating shocking statements on their behalf.Коммунистов обложили шуты и провокаторы // Росбалт However, the representatives of CPLO themselves, in their interviews with the media, believe that this version of their activities is being disseminated by "bloggers hired by KPLO's political competitors."

Since 2012, CPLO has been one of the founders of the political party Communists of Russia.

CPLO ideology CPLO declares striving for partnership with the CPRF and with A Just Russia, a member of the Socialist International.Балтийское ИА: «Коммунисты России» снимут пену с КПРФВремя Новостей: «Коммунисты России» хотят составить конкуренцию партии Геннадия Зюганова In the official documents of the CPLO it is noted that "We, the Communists, value the theoretical and practical legacy of K. Marx, V. I. Lenin, J. V. Stalin, as well as, albeit to varying degrees, Plekhanov, Gramsci, Luxemburg, Che Guevara, Gandhi. Unlike other communist parties, factions and platforms are allowed in the CPLO: there is a socialist trend, guevarist, anti-globalist, national-patriotic, left-wing radical, etc. 60% of members adhere to the ideology of creative Marxism–Leninism, Soviet patriotism and socialist internationalism."История КПЛО // Сайт КПЛО

CPLO activities The CPLO emerged during an acute crisis in the CPRF, a split into supporters of Gennady Zyuganov and Gennady Semigin, when Yelena Drapeko, Valentin Knysh, Gennady Gamza, Tatyana Astrakhankina, etc., left the Communist Party. At the time of the split and later, the "Communists of Petersburg" took a neutral position, speaking kindly about both Gennady Zyuganov and his opponents.Состоялась первая конференция и пленум организации «Коммунисты Петербурга» // ЗАКС.РУ

KPLO became known in Russia and abroad in connection with numerous statements and actions, the style and forms of which turned out to be shocking for the traditional communist movement in Russia. Thus, in January 2005, the Communists of Petersburg urged veterans and pensioners not to pay for public transport; from that moment on, all the initiatives of the KPLO began to be covered with more or less regularity by the media. Then, to win over the youth audience and, according to the leaders of the organization, to provoke public discussion, dozens of initiatives and actions were undertaken that had a great public response. Among them are the replacement of the plates of Belgradskaya Street with Milošević Street,Коммунисты все-таки переименовали Белградскую в Милошевича // Невастройка the destruction of the model of the US missile defense bases near the American consulate, and the picketing of the Constantine Palace during the G8 summit. Imitation or reconstruction of the establishment of the Estonian Soviet Republic on the territory of Estonia or Russian regions bordering on Estonia,Коммунисты Петербурга сообщают об отделении нескольких хуторов от Эстонии и «восстановлении ЭССР» // Русское радио strict monitoring of the construction of the Ring Road in Saint Petersburg, making icons with the image of Joseph Stalin and calling for the canonization of Stalin, renaming the Podosye village of the Pskov Oblast into the Stalin village by gathering,В России появилась деревня имени товарища Сталина // Комсомольская правда disruption of the celebration of the birthday of the speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg Vadim Tyulpanov in the elite "Taleon Club" // ИА РосБалт etc.

Of particular interest and the most varied assessments of the public were aroused by the statements of the CPLO with the assessment of the released films, the colorization of Soviet films, as well as events in the world of sports and the statement of versions about the existence of alien intelligence. As the leaders of the CPLO have repeatedly stressed, the modern communist party "must be able to smile." According to the leaders of the CPLO, their organization wants to achieve a permanent presence of communists in the life of society, in all spheres of public interest.Сайт КПЛО: Беседа с теоретиком КП Сергеем Ованисьяном

CPLO rarely conducts unauthorized actions, but its leaders were repeatedly detained during pickets and rallies,ЗАКС.РУ: «За критику работы КАД задержан депутат Сергей Малинкович»Перед Смольным проходит акция. Задержаны муниципальный депутат и два журналиста" and the party's office was subjected to violent searches. CPLO has always strongly opposed joint actions with the banned NBP, the so-called orange forces, nationalists, etc.Сергей Малинкович: После «Марша несогласных» у ЛДПР появились реальные шансы в Санкт-Петербурге // Электорат.инфо

Participation in election campaigns Despite their status as a public organization, the Communists of Petersburg immediately began to actively participate in election campaigns, playing on the contradictions between the various flanks of the left movement. So, in the fall of 2003, in the first round of elections for the Governor of Saint Petersburg, the CP supported Alexey Timofeev, a deputy of the city parliament (Timofeev appeared on TV with the CP emblem in his hands), but Timofeev received about 1% of the votes and later the KP refused to cooperate with him. // ИА РОСБАЛТ

In the second round of the gubernatorial elections, the Communists of Petersburg announced their support for the former vice-governor in the government of Vladimir Yakovlev, candidate Anna Markova, which was widely publicized by her headquarters.«Коммунисты Петербурга» поддерживают Анну Маркову // ЗАКС.РУ

Markova received 23% of the vote, and therefore relations between the Matviyenko administration and the Communists of Petersburg remained tense for some time.

In the by-elections to the Legislative Assembly in March 2005 in the Krasnogvardeysky District of the city in a single-mandate constituency, the independent left-wing candidate Igor Chubarov, who used the support of the CP, received 20%, and the CPRF candidate - 6%.«Коммунисты Петербурга» поддержат на муниципальных выборах в 21 округе Игоря Чубарова, а в 39 — Сергея Алешичева // ЗАКС.РУ

The situation was changed by the introduction of elections by party lists. However, by this time the Communists of Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast (received Interregional status in 2006) were already a well-known organization and were simultaneously invited to several coalitions. At the elections to the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg in March 2007, CPLO entered the list of a small United Socialist Party of Russia (SEPR), headed by Vladimir Putin's judo coach, State Duma deputy Vaslily Shestakov and former vice-governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Potekhin. 9 members of the CPLO became candidates for deputies of the Legislative Assembly on the list of this party.СЕПР пойдет на выборы в ЗакС Петербурга вместе с «Коммунистами Петербурга» // Эхо Москвы The signatures collected by the union were rejected by the St. Petersburg Election Commission, as were Yabloko's lists. Later, SEPR secured an election restoration in the city court of St. Petersburg two weeks before the vote. In crisis conditions, the leader of the CPLO, municipal deputy Sergey Malinkovich, was invited to represent SEPR at the debates on the RTR TV channel. These speeches, in which the SEPR was presented by Malinkovich as an "electoral union of socialists and communists" and an extremely populist program (the speaker promised to cancel the rent if the bloc wins), according to CPLO's own statements, made the organization widely known to the city, and also significantly raised the SEPR rating from the level of statistical errors up to 1.5-2 percent.Сайт КПЛО: Заявление ЦК КП

Then SEPR was removed from the elections by the decision of the Supreme Court of Russia. In these conditions, the CPLO announced the support of 2 candidates from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in the inner city districts - Alexander Olkhovsky (27th district) and Yuri Savin (46th district), who have long been associated with the CPLO. In other constituencies, the Communists of St. Petersburg proposed to voters to boycott the elections in protest against the cancellation of the registration of the SEPR. Both candidates used the support of the CPLO in their campaigning. Alexander Olkhovsky was elected a deputy of the Legislative Assembly on the list of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and became Chairman of the Industry Commission of the City Parliament and deputy head of the Communist Party faction. Olkhovsky subsequently repeatedly declared his sympathy for the KPLO, as an actively operating communist organization. Yuri Savin took second place in his constituency.ЗАКС.РУ: "По списку КПРФ в ЗакС проходит кандидат, поддержанный «Коммунистами Петербурга и Ленобласти» The CPLO officially congratulated the CPRF on the creation of a faction in the city parliament and demonstrated its loyalty to the CPRF, but the leader of the regional party organization V. Fedorov repeatedly criticized the CPLO unilaterally, which only aroused greater media interest in the Communists of Petersburg.Две версии одного пленума петербургского горкома КПРФ // ЗАКС.РУ

In 2007, SEPR joined the A Just Russia party, after which the CPLO began to cooperate with the party of Sergei Mironov, which proclaimed "socialism of the 21st century."Сайт «Справедливой России»: «Коммунисты Петербурга и Ленинградской области поздравили СПРАВЕДЛИВУЮ РОССИЮ» In the fall of 2007, CPLO turned to the St. Petersburg branch of the CPRF with a proposal to form a joint list of candidates for elections to the State Duma and was refused. After that, the CPLO officially supported the list of Just Russia and organized the Congress of Young Communists of Russia in St. Petersburg on November 7, 2009, which also supported the list of candidates for the SR and harshly criticized the CPRF, accusing it of ineffective activities, the absence of workers on the lists, etc. to note that most of the St. Petersburg media widely covered this event, which was organized colorfully, in the style of the CPSU congresses, with the laying of flowers at the Field of Mars, and, in particular, in the media materials, more attention was paid to the coverage of the Congress than the demonstration of the Communist Party on November 7.Фонтанка. Ру: «Молодые коммунисты отправили Зюганова в Мымрино»

ВIn March 2008, during the presidential elections, they called on to reject the system of presidential power and write on the bulletin "Power to the Soviets!" Then СPLO attributed to their agitation the fact that 21 thousand ballots in St. Petersburg and about 500 thousand ballots in the country were spoiled.

In 2004, 2005, 2009 СPLO has invariably sought the election of its leaders - Sergei Malinkovich, Viktor Perov, Yuri Savin and other deputies of the municipal councils of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region.Депутат Савин о ценах на сахар и хлеб // Сайт КПЛО