The Communist Party of the Russian Federation selects its presidential candidate.

On December 23, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation selected Pavel Grudinin, the director of the "Lenin Collective Farm" enterprise on the outskirts of Moscow, as its candidate for the Russian presidential election next March.

Candidate Pavel Grudinin. Source: rferl.org

The decision to select Grudinin, 57, to run for president was made after the annual plenary session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

This was a surprising decision, because in the five previous presidential elections, the candidate of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation had always been the party chairman, Gennady Zyuganov.

Earlier, Zyuganov, 73, had been nominated by the Party Executive Committee to lead the Supreme Council of Patriotic People's Forces - the party's election campaign steering body.

The council will be formed before the presidential election, consisting of 35-40 members.

On the same day, the ruling United Russia party pledged its full support for incumbent President Vladimir Putin in next year's election.

Speaking at the party's annual congress, Russian President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev emphasized that the United Russia party wants a "surpassed victory" and will "support Putin in every way possible."

At the congress, President Putin also pledged to provide more support for businesses, step up the fight against corruption, and continue investing in healthcare and education.

According to the plan, the Russian presidential election will take place on March 18, 2018.

In last year's parliamentary elections, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation came in second, behind the United Russia party.

According to Vietnamplus