The People's Patriotic Party was first registered in September 2002, and was chaired by General Igor Rodionov, a former defense minister and a deputy of the Russian parliament. Rodionov is currently a member of the left-wing Just Russia party led by Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov.
The court upheld the Federal Registration Service's claim that the party was not operating in accordance with Russian law, which states that political parties must have a minimum of 50,000 party members and have branches in most of the 86 constituent members of the Russian Federation, with at least 500 members in each office, as well as pass a 7% threshold.
Following legal checks the service concluded that a total of 16 Russian political parties should be closed down and they had until January 1, 2007 to unregister themselves or convert into public organizations - only four parties have complied to date.
Earlier the Supreme Court upheld claims to ban the Republican Party of Russia, the Russian Party of Peace and the Freedom and Rule of the People party, which have already been removed from the state register on account of low membership figures. On April 13, Mikhail Gorbachev's Social Democratic Party was also banned following a Supreme Court ruling.
The service spokesperson Galina Fokina said that they were currently preparing claims against the Russian Communist Workers Party, Russian Party of Communists and Conceptual Party Yedineniye (Unity).
