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Yury Tarasov (1966-) was President of Russia from 2003 to 2004, succeeding Valentina Mogusheva and preceding Elena Petrushenko.

Biography[]

Yury Tarasov was born in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union in 1966, and he worked as a chemist before entering politics during the early 1990s. In 1993, he was elected to the Moscow City Council as a CPRF member, serving until 2000, when he was elected CPRF leader and was elected to the State Duma. He led his party in steady growth, challenging the powerful United Russia and LDPR parties. In the mid-2003 elections, the CPRF became the largest party in the country with 43.19% of the vote and 15 seats, and Tarasov defeated incumbent LDPR president Valentina Mogusheva by a margin of 52.3% to 47.7%.

During Tarasov's presidency, the Duma narrowly voted 17-16 against a land tax and 17-15 against a stamp duty, and the economy slowly declined. However, the Duma voted 26-4 in favor of a public smoking ban, 18-10 in favor of legalizing gambling, and 29-1 to abolish the agricultural subsidy. The early 2004 elections saw the CPRF rise to 44.10% of the vote and 16 seats, United Russia rise to 28.21% and 11 seats, and the LDPR decline to 21.79% and 8 seats. The ensuing election saw Tarasov defeat United Russia presidential candidate Elena Petrushenko 53.3% to 46.7%. The Duma then voted 16-13 in favor of a land tax, 17-11 in favor of a stamp duty, 8-4 against press freedom in a motion abstained from by the CPRF (due to its refusal to increase government spending while the economy stabilized), and 9-2 against arts subsidies (with 20 abstaining). The ensuing election saw the CPRF win 48% of the vote and 17 seats, followed by United Russia with 21.55% and 7 seats, the LDPR with 19.89% and 7 seats, and Rodina with 10.56% and 4 seats. A week later, the Duma voted 20-10 to approve sex education, and, a week later, Petrushenko defeated the CPRF candidate Oksana Zebedev in a landslide victory of 55.2% to 44.8%; Tarasov had been term-limited.

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