| Viktor Ilyukhin believes that Gennady Zyuganov should no longer try to become president There will most likely not be a single bloc of leftists in the 2003 Duma elections. But this should not lead to a split in the forces that should prepare for victory in the next presidential elections. This is the position of the socio-political “Movement in Support of the Army” (DPA), headed by member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Duma deputy Viktor Ilyukhin. Victory, according to army defenders, will be possible only if the Communist Party of the Russian Federation gets rid of “the influence of opportunism and compromise” and is able to rally its allies around a new presidential candidate. DPA members would not like to see Gennady Zyuganov as such a candidate.
The left “needs a fresh stream,” Mr. Ilyukhin explained to a correspondent for the Vremya Novostei newspaper, and specifically in the presidential elections. The Duma elections, in his opinion, “have exhausted themselves under the current government,” which Mr. Ilyukhin called “authoritarian.” In such conditions, no party, no bloc, having won the parliamentary marathon, will be able to come to power, the DPA leader is sure. Therefore, he believes, “it’s time for the left to name” its presidential candidate. The current leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennady Zyuganov is no longer suitable for a victorious performance in the presidential marathon, since “he has two losses behind him.” But the leadership of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, according to Mr. Ilyukhin, is not yet concerned with the search for “new personalities.” The party was drawn into “internal squabbles and disputes” fraught with splits. At the same time, “too much power” is concentrated in the hands of Mr. Zyuganov: he is the leader of the party, and the leader of the faction, and the leader of the People’s Patriotic Union of Russia, and the leader of the Union of Communist Parties.
If the left has a new presidential candidate, it will be easier for them to develop tactics in the parliamentary elections. A “broad left coalition” in the Duma elections is hardly possible, Mr. Ilyukhin believes: it is unthinkable to unite the radical communists from Viktor Anpilov’s “Working Russia” and supporters of the parliamentary “growing into power” (the “Russia” movement of Gennady Seleznev). But even speaking separately, the left should not compete with each other, but coordinate their actions in order to launch a “mass protest movement” in the country. In his opinion, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation could become the “coordination center”.
The leader of the DPA finds more than enough reasons and reasons for joint protest actions: the purchase and sale of land, the reform of housing and communal services, the reform of military salaries, etc.
The leaders of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation yesterday did not react in any way to the proposals of the head of the DPA, despite the fact that the army defenders are considered allies of the communists. The reaction will apparently follow after the plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, which next Saturday will have to determine the strategy and tactics of the communists for the two pre-election years. Victor KHAMRAEV |
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