Sergey Ivanenko, first deputy chairman of Yabloko, takes part in the opening ceremony of "YABLOKO-10 Years" exhibition. The exhibition was held in the Museum if Modern History October 21, 2003.
Photo: Alexey Kudenko
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Democrats Channel Off
Wednesday sitting of the public “Committee-2008: Free Elections” caused a sensation. The democrats said they wouldn’t establish a united party. Simultaneously Garry Kasparov, chess ex-champion and head of the Committee-2008, announced he creates his own party in tandem with the State Duma’s deputy Vladimir Ryzhkov. The democrats pledged to be polite to each other and to stage joint rallies.
Yesterday, the Committee-2008's sitting was to end either by a breakthrough or by a failure. Should the members seal a common platform and elect an organizational committee, they would step forward in creating a united democratic coalition, able to hit the 7-percent ceiling at the next election to the State Duma. But the meeting was a fiasco, having actually crossed out all plans to consolidate democrats in the foreseeable future.
As usual, the democrats met behind closed doors. Vladimir Ryzhkov left 15 minutes before the ending, telling the reporters he will “positively take all initiatives to step up democratic forces.” Such elusive statement foretold the outcome. When the meeting was over, Kasparov announced he and Ryzhkov will “create something of their own.”
However, the members of the Committee-2008 didn’t look astonished. “It has been long known that Kasparov and Ryzhkov are establishing their party,” Sergey Ivanenko, deputy head of Yabloko, told Kommersant. “If they succeed to attract new people and earn a great reputation in the society, it will be good for everyone”, Ivanenko said, adding, however, that creating a party by January 2006 is “an adventurous project for election” and he is skeptical about that idea.
The democrats also agreed yesterday to stage joint rallies against the authorities with the first of them slated for this May. But such intention will not survive till the Duma’s election and in December 2007 all liberal voters of Russia will again have to choose between a raft of small but proud democratic parties.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Apr. 07, 2005
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