Third force (1996 Russian presidential election)

Third force, in relation to the 1996 Russian presidential election, refers to the possibility of a center-left third party voting bloc being formed in order to create a viable alternative to Boris Yeltsin and Gennady Zyuganov.^[1]

Serious negotiations to form a coalition were held between candidates Alexander Lebed, Grigory Yavlinsky and Svyatoslav Fyodorov. Alexander Rutskoy and Stanislav Govorukhin were approached to join the coalition, but gave their support to Zyuganov. Mikhail Gorbechev offered to lead a wide coalition but gained little support. Talks ultimately fell apart by early May, six weeks before the first round of the election. It was later revealed that Lebed had made a secret agreement with Yeltsin to support the latter in the second round of the election, after building up Lebed's campaign so that his endorsement would carry more support.