Rodina

   / Motherland-National Patriotic Union

   Political party. Rodina (Motherland) was a coalition of nationalist, left-wing political parties and organizations formed to win seats in the State Duma under the Putin administration. The party was originally led by Dmitry Rogozin, a well-known member of Russia’s foreign policy elite and a longtime supporter of ethnic Russians living in the near abroad. With its curious motto “For Putin, but against the government,” the party performed well in the 2003 parliamentary elections, winning 37 seats and garnering nearly 10 percent of the vote. Criticized by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and reformist parties as a Kremlin-backed pseudoparty, Rodina chose not to field a candidate for the 2004 presidential election, creating an internal split in the party in which Rogozin marginalized his rival, Sergey Glazyev. The following year, another split in the party triggered Glazyev’s return to the party. In 2005, the party was barred from Moscow elections due to its virulently anti-immigrant campaign. Rogozin unexpectedly stepped down in 2006 and was replaced by businessman Aleksandr Babakov. Shortly thereafter, Rodina merged with the Russian Party of Life and the Russian Pensioners’ Party to form Fair Russia. The combined party went on to a fourth-place showing in the 2007 Duma elections.