Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennady Zyuganov
Photo: Valery Titievsky
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Always Second
// The Communists haven't made it up the United Russians yet
Yearend roundup
Unlike the other parties in the Duma, the Communists did not sum up their year at a party meeting or a press conference. Rather, they did it in season's greetings. Communist Party of the Russian Federation leaders say that the party has “perceptibly regained its position” as the leading oppositional force. And, as always, the Communists are a long way from meeting United Russia on an equal footing.
The year began, as party leader Gennady Zyuganov recalled in his greeting, “with a wave of mass protest” against the monetization of benefit and ended with “the founding of a Communist Party faction in the Moscow City Duma” for the first time. Deputy Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Ivan Melnikov pointed out to Kommersant that the results of regional elections where “the summary percentage of those voting against all, not going out to the polls or voting for the opposition rose everywhere.” He sees in that “the relationship of citizens to the course we're on” and “the loss of hope that the authorities will ever finally keep their promises.” He also sees that people, “even though slowly, are ridding themselves of the myths and beginning to see the Communist Party as an energetic modern avant-garde party.”
These celebratory words are rather optimistic. Problems dogged the Communist Party's every step. The massive protests against the monetization of social benefits arose spontaneously, without the assistance or even participation of the Communists. The Communists began to hold meetings only on January 10. The law did not allow it to do so earlier. The authorities have to be informed of a street action ten days in advance. While pensioners protested instantly, the Communists followed the law. Yabloko, in the meantime did not wait for permission and held unauthorized meetings. It would also have been possible to foresee the mass actions and apply in advance for permission.
The successes in regional elections are just as iffy. The Communist Party frequently came in second after United Russia. But the elections had the kind of low turnout that the Communists always do well in. And they received almost no more vaoes than the number of party members. They are not doing well in the competition with the current authorities, which brought all spheres of life, without exception, from big business to nongovernmental organizations, in 2005 and started four typically left national projects (health, education, agriculture and housing) and effectively pulling the rug out from under the Left's feet.
In other words, 2005 did not see a change in the Communists' place in politics. In second place, it cannot face United Russia on equal terms. It's attempts at forming alliances, with both the nationalistic Fatherland and the democratic opposition, were unsuccessful. The counterrevolutionary tendencies were so strong in the Communist Party that its Duma faction coauthored the law that the authorities are planning to use to control nongovernmental organizations.. That is how the party ended its year.
Viktor Khamraev
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 29, 2005
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