An effectively
multi-party system emerged in the
Soviet Union in the late 1980s in wake of the
Gorbachev reforms. In March 1990,
Article 6 of the
Soviet Constitution, which ensured the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) a monopoly on power, was amended to allow other political parties to hold public office. This gave room to the rise of other political parties, specifically the LDPSU. In April 1991, the LDPSU became the second officially registered party in the country. Former KGB General
Philipp Bobkov has stated that "in line with
Zubatov's ideas," the
Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union "proposed creating a pseudo-party controlled by the KGB" to direct the interests and sentiments of certain social groups, however he said that he was against the idea. Former
Politburo member
Alexander Yakovlev described how KGB director
Vladimir Kryuchkov proposed the creation of the party with Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev at a meeting. He also stated that the Central Committee took over which led to the creation of the Liberal Democratic Party. Yakovlev called the creation of the party a joint effort of the Central Committee and the KGB. The outspoken leader of LDPSU
Vladimir Zhirinovsky He also supported the
August 1991 coup attempt. Following the
dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian section of the LDPSU became the
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), while the Belarusian section became the
Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus (LDPB). ==References==