Communist Party of Russia prepares ‘victory program’ for 2026 Duma elections

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) will enter the 2026 State Duma elections with a strategy it calls the “victory program.”

Party leader Gennady Zyuganov announced that work on this program had begun at a CPRF Central Committee meeting held on November 15 at the Snegiri resort near Moscow.

“The time has come to escape the dead end of capitalism. To this end, we are working on the details of our victory program. We will go into the State Duma elections in the new year with the task of implementing this program,” Zyuganov stated.

The program is based on familiar promises

The program largely consists of ideas the party has traditionally advocated.

These include the nationalization and strengthening of strategic industries, increasing the tax burden on the wealthy while reducing it for workers, and raising the subsistence minimum and minimum wage.

Additionally, the program aims to restore citizens’ access to free education and healthcare and to adopt the “development budget” proposed by Zyuganov.

Demands for Stalingrad and the Dzerzhinsky monument

Zyuganov also argued that the “hero city on the Volga,” Volgograd, should have its name restored to Stalingrad. The party leader further stated that the day of victory over militarist Japan (September 3) should be celebrated more widely and that the monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky should be returned to its place in the center of Moscow.

“No different from the government’s rhetoric”

Speaking to the Vedomosti, Mikhail Vinogradov, president of the Petersburg Politics Foundation, noted that the CPRF’s program, in its current form, is not very different from the government’s rhetoric.

According to Vinogradov, words like victory and nationalization do not contradict current practices; the program avoids focusing on the country’s internal political problems, conflicts, and the costs of military operations.

Yevgeny Minchenko, president of Minchenko Consulting, also agreed that the communists must take existing realities into account.

A new start after unsuccessful elections

The Central Committee meeting was held two months after regional elections that were not very successful for the CPRF.

The party placed second in 12 of the 20 gubernatorial elections but achieved this success in only three of the 11 legislative assembly elections.

In this area, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) surpassed the communists, taking second place in seven regions.

Previously, sources had indicated that the meeting was postponed to avoid discussing the failures and to change the agenda. Zyuganov dedicated a significant portion of his report to the single voting day, holding the United Russia party responsible for the results.

He said that at the meeting, calls were made to abolish the municipal filter, hold in-person, single-day elections with paper ballots, reinstate the institution of election commission members with an advisory vote, and introduce criminal liability for election fraud.

Party leadership emphasizes a long-term strategy

Meanwhile, Dmitry Novikov, Zyuganov’s deputy for ideology, said the meeting was the beginning of the party’s extensive preparations for the 2026 elections.

“Moreover, unlike other political forces, for us, conducting an election campaign is not a short-term special operation. It is part of a large, thoughtful, and systematic effort in the struggle for power, and we are proud of this,” Novikov stated.

Yury Afonin, Deputy Chairman of the CPRF Central Committee, said the program is already being tested in regions governed by communists (Oryol Oblast under Andrey Klychkov, Khakassia under Valentin Konovalov, and Ulyanovsk Oblast under Aleksey Russkikh), but he did not provide details on how this process is working.

Novikov announced that depending on decisions regarding the socio-economic program, other sections such as the political component, cultural work, the party’s information policy, and the electoral system will also be presented.

“We will form a sufficient number of commissions and working groups to transform all of this into our election program by the next stage of the party congress,” Novikov said. It was learned that a total of 14 commissions have been established for this purpose.

Political scientist Konstantin Kalachev notes that programmatic positioning plays a significant role in elections.

According to Kalachev, the CPRF has a chance to secure second place in the Duma campaign, but to do so, it needs to reclaim its image as a champion of social justice and support this with effective party mobilization.

Kalachev added that there is a demand for left-wing populism, but more popular, trustworthy speakers and new faces are needed.