Editing Two-party system (section)

=== Malta ===
{{Main|Politics of Malta}}
[[Politics of Malta|Malta]] is somewhat unusual in that while the electoral system is [[single transferable vote]] (STV), a form with proportional representation traditionally associated with a multi-party system, minor parties have not had much success. Politics is dominated between the centre-left [[Labour Party (Malta)|Labour Party]] and the centre-right [[Nationalist Party (Malta)|Nationalist Party]], with no third parties winning seats in Parliament between [[1962 Maltese general election|1962]] and [[2017 Maltese general election|2017]] and since 2022.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Borg |first1=Bertrand |date=6 June 2017 |title=Marlene Farrugia's election met with counting hall taunts |url=https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20170606/local/marlene-farrugia-elected-on-10th-district.650090 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180924175547/https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20170606/local/marlene-farrugia-elected-on-10th-district.650090 |archive-date=24 September 2018 |access-date=9 June 2017 |work=Times of Malta |quote=Malta's next legislature will feature an elected third party representative for the first time in more than 50 years, with Democratic Party leader Marlene Farrugia having made it into parliament.}}</ref>
<!--===Russia ===
Post-Soviet Russia was close to having a competitive two-party system in 1999 when two "[[party of power|parties of power]]" (specifically, socio-political associations and [[parliamentary group|parliamentary factions]]) were formed in the [[3rd State Duma]] – [[Unity (Russian political party)|Unity]] and [[Fatherland – All Russia]]. However, by the end of 2001, both had united into one pro-presidential party – [[United Russia]].

On 24 March 2006, a meeting was held between the [[:ru:Заместитель руководителя Администрации президента России|deputy head of the presidential administration]], [[Vladislav Surkov]], and the chairman of the [[Russian Party of Life]], [[Sergey Mironov]], and 30 deputies from the Russian Party of Life. At the meeting, Surkov first openly formulated the idea of building a two-party system in the country, in which, depending on the circumstances, the Kremlin could rely on one of the two system-forming parties.<ref name="kommersant">«Коммерсант»: [http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/697936 ''«Стенограмма-минимум. Партия жизни обнародовала инструкции Владислава Суркова»''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527051012/http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/697936|date=20110527051012}}, № 150 (3481), 16.08.2006.</ref> Surkov described the problem as follows: "Society does not have a "second leg" that it can shift to when the first one goes numb. Russia needs a second major party," which, according to the [[Presidential Administration of Russia|presidential administration]]'s plan, should, in the future, gain the votes that are currently collected by parties "of a [[left-wing politics|leftist bias]] and with a strong [[Russian nationalism|nationalist]] flavor." At the same time, Surkov left the role of the "main leg" for the coming years to United Russia: "The largest party, around which the political process will be built for a considerable time, in my opinion, of course, should be United Russia." Vladislav Surkov advised Russian Party of Life activists to rely on the protest electorate rather than on administrative resources: "It is better that this [protest] electorate, which is opposed to all types of administration, will be attracted to you than to destructive forces." A transcript of the meeting was published on 16 August 2006.<ref name="kommersant" /><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070707165914/http://rpvita.ru/activity/opinion/5009.html ''«Встреча группы депутатов от Российской партии Жизни с заместителем Руководителя Администрации Президента Российской Федерации — помощником Президента Российской Федерации В. Ю. Сурковым»'', 24 марта 2006 года], стенограмма опубликована на сайте партии 16.08.2006.</ref>

The [[A Just Russia]] party, which emerged in 2006, with some support from President [[Vladimir Putin]], positioned itself as a competitor to United Russia within the framework of a potential two-party system.

However, as a result of the fact that during the [[2007 Russian legislative election|Duma elections of 2007]], Putin politically headed the United Russia party, which won an absolute victory in the elections, by the end of 2007, a [[dominant-party system]] had emerged in Russia, in which United Russia has a [[supermajority|constitutional qualified majority]] in the Duma.-->
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