Sergey Mironov

Sergey Mikhailovich Mironov Russian: Серге́й Миха́йлович Миро́нов; born 14 February 1953 is a Russian politician. He was Chairman of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament, from 2001 to 2011. He leads the faction A Just Russia in the Parliament of Russia.

Life and career

In 1967 he joined the Komsomol.

In the 1970s, Sergey Mironov served in the airborne troops in the Soviet Army. In 1973 he was elected as deputy secretary committee of the Komsomol on ideological educational work at the Leningrad Mining Institute. After graduating from the Institute he worked as an engineer-geophysicist. After a brief time of working as an entrepreneur, he entered politics and, in 1994, was elected deputy of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly. In June 2000, he was elected vice-Chairman of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly and, in 2001, entered the Federation Council of Russia as a representative of St. Petersburg. In December 2001, Sergey Mironov was elected to be a Speaker of the Federation Council. Since February 2003, Sergey Mironov has been the Chairman of the Council of Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of States – members of the Commonwealth of Independent States and since April 2003 – Chairman of the Russian Party of Life. Sergey Mironov is from Saint Petersburg.

Mironov was a candidate in the 2004 presidential election. He was not considered to be a serious candidate and was quoted as saying: “We all want Vladimir Putin to be the next president.” He polled less than one per cent of the vote.

In October 2006, he became the leader of the new left-wing opposition party A Just Russia (Справедливая Россия), which was formed by uniting Rodina, Mironov’s Russian Party of Life, and the Russian Pensioners’ Party. This effectively makes him the leader of the opposition as the three parties together would be stronger than the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

Mironov has several times proposed an amendment to the Russian constitution that would allow the President to be elected for 3 consecutive 5 or 7 year terms. In 2007, Boris Gryzlov, leader of the rival United Russia party, said that changing the constitution would be unacceptable. Mironov is considered to be more socialistic oriented, as he pushes for setting up special agricultural exchanges for state purchases of agricultural goods and for more state intervention in regulating prices of basic food stuff.

In the March 2012 presidential election, he received 3.86% of the votes.

In March 2014, Mironov was included in list of Russian government sanctioned individuals because of their direct or alleged indirect involvement in the 2014 Crimean crisis. On 25 July 2014, amidst an armed insurgency in Eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry launched criminal proceedings against Mironov for alleged financial support to the armed insurgents.

Personal

Third wife: Mironova Irina Yurievna – officer apparatus to the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS. They have a son and a daughter.

In 2008, President Vladimir Putin awarded Mironov the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland”, 3rd degree.

In 2011, after an initiative of United Russia in the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg, Mironov was recalled from the Federation Council.

Electoral history

2004 presidential campaign

Mironov ran for president in the 2004 presidential election as the nominee of the Russian Party of Life. His candidacy was seen largely as a ploy to lend credence to the contest, as he was widely known to be a strong supporter of Vladimir Putin. He was even quoted as declaring, “We all want Vladimir Putin to be the next president.”

Mironov’s campaign slogan was “Justice and Responsibility”.

Most Russians were unfamiliar with Mironov and were disinterested in his candidacy.

2012 presidential campaign

Running in 2012 as the A Just Russia nominee, Mironov called for a return to a socialist model of government. Mironov was nominated by his party on 10 December 2011.

While he stated that he predicted a Putin victory, he declared that he would support Gennady Zyuganov in a hypothetical runoff against Putin.

Honours and awards

• Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 3rd class (14 February 2008) – for outstanding contribution to the strengthening and development of Russian statehood and parliamentarism
• Jubilee Medal “300 Years of the Russian Navy”
• Medal “In Commemoration of the 300th Anniversary of Saint Petersburg” (2003)
• Medal “In Commemoration of the 1000th Anniversary of Kazan” (2005)
• Collar of the Order of Merit of Peru (2005)
• Medal of Honour (South Ossetia, October 9, 2009) – for outstanding contribution to the maintenance of peace and stability in the Caucasus, active support in upholding the independence of South Ossetia and its international recognition, help in restoring the ruined economy of the republic
• Order of St. Sergius, 1st class (Russian Orthodox Church, 2008) and 2nd class (2003)
• Medal “For military cooperation” (Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 2005)
• Badge of Honour “For merits in development of parliamentarism” and Certificate of Merit of the Federal Assembly of Russian Federation
• Badge “For merits in strengthening cooperation with the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation” (2006)
• Medal “For outstanding contribution to the Collector business in Russia”
• Three times awarded personal firearms – Makarov, PMM and Vector pistols
• Honorary Doctor of Nizhny Novgorod State University, Bashkir State University (2006), National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Russian State Social University, Mongolian University of Science and Technology, Far Eastern State University of Communications, Moscow State Forest University, Slavonic University (Moldova, 2007), Khakassia State University NF Katanova and Russian-Tajik Slavonic University
• Professor Emeritus of the North-West Academy of Public Administration (2004), Perm State Technical University and Bryansk State University
• Honorary Professor of South-Ural State University (2003) and Moscow State Pedagogical University
• Honorary Citizen of Makhachkala (2006)