Estonian United Left Party

The Estonian United Left Party (Estonian: Eestimaa Ühendatud Vasakpartei, Russian: Объединённая левая партия Эстонии, romanized: Obyedinyonnaya levaya partiya Estonii) is a political party in Estonia representing the Russian minority in Estonia. Through the Estonian Left Party, the party, founded in 2008, is the direct descendant of the Communist Party of Estonia, the former ruling party of Estonia during the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic period.

Estonian United Left Party
Eestimaa Ühendatud Vasakpartei
LeaderIgor Rosenfeld
Founded28 June 2008 (2008-06-28)
Merger ofEstonian Left Party
Constitution Party
HeadquartersKeemikute tn 26–2, Maardu
Membership (2023)Decrease 512[1]
IdeologyDemocratic socialism[2]
Russian nationalism[3]
Russian minority politics[4][5]
Political positionLeft-wing[6]
European affiliationParty of the European Left
Colours  Red
Riigikogu
0 / 101
European Parliament
(Estonian seats)
0 / 7
Website
Official website (archived)

Since 2004, through the Estonian Left Party, the party is a founding member of the Party of the European Left.

History

On 28 June 2008, the Estonian Left Party (a party comprising most of the remnants of the post-1990 Communist Party of Estonia) and the Constitution Party (one of two parties representing the Russian minority in Estonia) merged to form the Estonian United Left Party (Eestimaa Ühendatud Vasakpartei).[7] Despite the party's professed adherence to a left-wing direction, some observers and journalists have noted and claimed that the party is perceived to be more interested in catering to Russian minority politics and has been relatively marginal in Estonian politics.[8] In particular, party chairman Mstislav Rusakov made a comment about the party's apparent obscurity for an interview for Eesti Rahvusringhääling: "The problem is to convey this information to people, because, as I already said, go out into the street, ask: "The United Left Party ...?", they will tell you: "What is this?".[8] Meanwhile, in an opinion article for the online Russian-language edition of Postimees, Valery Saïkovski asserts that the party is only relevant for Russian nationalist purposes.[3]

In 2018, there were posters in Tallinn allegedly from the EULP that endorsed Pavel Grudinin, the presidential candidate from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation running in the 2018 Russian presidential election. However, the party has denied that they are responsible for these posters, and the Russian Embassy in Estonia called them "low quality craft".[9]

Election results

Parliamentary elections
Election Votes  % Seats +/− Government
2015 764 0.1 (#10)
0 / 101
 New Extra-parliamentary
2019 511 0.1 (#10)
0 / 101
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
2023[lower-alpha 1] 14,605 2.4 (#7)
0 / 101
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
  1. In coalition with Koos.

European Parliament elections
Election Votes Seats Pos.
#  % ± pp # ±
2009[10] 3,519 0.89 new
0 / 6
 new 10th
2014[11] 226 0.07 Decrease 0.82
0 / 6
 Steady 0 17th
2019 221 0.07 Steady 0
0 / 6
 Steady 0 13th


Notes

    References
    1. "Äriregistri teabesüsteem" (in Estonian). Retrieved 4 February 2023.
    2. Kelomees, Herman (August 2022). "Eesti kommunistid soovivad tuhast tõusta".
    3. Saïkovski, Valery (2 December 2020). "Non-systemic left opposition: why there are almost only Russians and there is no result". Postimees. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
    4. Toots, Anu (March 2019). "2019 Parliamentary elections in Estonia" (PDF). Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
    5. Lanko, Dmitry (2015). "Estonian Political Parties in the mid-2010s" (PDF). Open Access Repository.
    6. Siaroff, Alan (2019). Comparative European Party System (PDF). p. 237. ISBN 978-1-138-88805-0.
    7. "Eestimaa Ühendatud Vasakpartei on loodud".
    8. Nizametdinov, Ildar (11 November 2018). "Sociologist about OLPE: Estonians perceive this party as purely Russian and too radical (In Russian)". err.ee. Eesti Rahvusringhääling (Estonian Public Broadcasting). Retrieved 24 June 2022.
    9. "Posters appeared on the streets of Tallinn calling for voting "for Grudinin"". rus.delfi.ee. Delfi. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
    10. "Euroopa Parlamendi valimised 2009" (in Estonian). Vabariigi Valimiskomisjon. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
    11. "Euroopa Parlamendi valimised 2014" (in Estonian). Vabariigi Valimiskomisjon. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
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