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Russia's liberals reach a tentative compromise

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MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political news analyst Vasily Kononenko).

A significant event took place on Russia's political scene during the past weekend. Two democratic parties, the Union of Right Forces (SPS) and Yabloko, decided to submit a single party list of candidates, under the Yabloko "brand", for elections to the Moscow city Duma. Thus, the unification of democrats on a regional level, which seemed impossible only a week ago, took place as a "marriage of convenience." After long debates which continued at the SPS congress last Saturday and the Yabloko party conference last Sunday, the parties managed to reach a compromise: the SPS will delegate Ivan Novitsky to run in the elections, and Yabloko - Yevgeny Bunimovich. Both are incumbent deputies of the Moscow city Duma. Sources at the party headquarters told a RIA Novosti correspondent that the election campaign would be financed by the parties on a parity basis: 50% of the funds from each party. Nikita Belykhn and Grigory Yavlinsky, the parties' leaders, intend to control the entire course of the election campaign.

The Moscow elections to be held on December 4 are much more significant than any local election. The new city Duma will take the decision on the endorsement of the Moscow mayor, since Yuri Luzhkov's powers will expire in December 2007. The year 2007 will be a year of parliamentary elections. The issue of who will replace Vladimir Putin in the post of Russia's president will largely depend on their outcome. If the democrats manage to restore their presence in the State Duma, neither the president nor the United Russia party which has now a "controlling" vote in the State Duma, the parliament's lower chamber, will be able to ignore this signal from society. Thus, the forthcoming election campaign to the Moscow city Duma is the first step in the struggle for power in this country.

Continuous round-the-clock consultations held by representatives of the two democratic parties' headquarters during the entire past week resulted in evasive agreements. At first Nikita Belykh, the SPS leader, agreed to go to the elections under the Yabloko "brand" on condition that he tops the party list. However, the Yabloko party strongly opposed this. The thing is that in Russia people vote primarily not for parties and their ideologies, but for "charismatic" party candidates. If the SPS leader topped the list, the Yabloko "brand" would be of secondary importance, and Grigory Yavlinsky, Yabloko's leader, could not agree to this.

There was no consensus at the SPS congress either on the painful decision - to be taken under another party's wing. Even such seasoned politicians as Yegor Gaidar voiced their doubts, not to speak of the party's regional leaders. Someone said at the congress that September 24 was a "black day" for the party. True, the understanding that the SPS party is doomed if it fails to unite with Yabloko, made some politicians take off their masks. The former SPS leader, Boris Nemtsov, said in self-reproach: "I believe this alliance is the only possible option. In the voters' eyes, we look as defenders of the rich now. It is necessary not only to unite with Yabloko, but to pose as tough opposition to the powers-that-be." Yabloko has always been a consistent and irreconcilable opponent of the authorities. Meanwhile, the SPS is seen by society as a wieldy party servicing the oligarchs' interests.

On Sunday, the debates reached their acme when Nikita Belykh, the new official SPS leader, came to the Yabloko conference and took the floor. He said point-blank to his political rivals that his participation in the campaign is a "compromise" and agreed to step aside as the candidate in favor of the incumbent Moscow Duma deputy. To impart a federal status to the campaign, it was decided that the two parties' leaders would take part in the campaign as the candidates' confidants.

Yet sociologists ask democrats not to indulge any vain hopes. A mechanical unification of the two parties will not bring a surge of sympathy for them. The Moscow electorate should regain their confidence in the liberals and believe that they are capable not only of criticism and internal squabbles. The liberals should prove that they can be responsible for their actions before the people who uphold the ideas of freedom and democracy. There are more such people in Moscow than in any other region of Russia - about 20%, as previous elections and public opinion polls showed.

However, far from all of them will vote for democrats: the voters cannot be sure that the present tactical decision taken by the SPS and Yabloko under the pressure of harsh circumstances and allowing the two parties to overcome the 10% eligibility barrier for getting seats at the Moscow city Duma will result in their true unification. Sergei Mitrokhin, head of the Moscow Yabloko organization, said to a RIA Novosti correspondent that what is currently conceived is a "big experiment in a country's region most favorable for democrats. The parties' future joint actions and their possible unification will largely depend on the results of the December 4 elections."

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