The Patriots of Russia party has decided to support Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the presidential election scheduled for March 2012, leader of Patriots of Russia Gennady Semigin said.
“The central political council of the party made the decision to support Vladimir Putin in the presidential election,” Semigin said on Monday at a news conference held at RIA Novosti's main office in Moscow.
The Patriots is a left-wing nationalist and socialist party that largely consists of former members of the Communist Party of Russia and the far-right Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), as well as fans of modern Russian folk music. The party is headed by former Communist Party member Gennady Semigin. This year the party gained 0.96 percent of the vote in the State Duma election.
While acknowledging that the Patriots opposed Putin's ruling United Russia party for more than six years, Semigin said the current political discord persuaded the party to join the All-Russia People’s Front and throw its support behind Putin.
