Translated material
He talks and doesn't show
The leader of A Just Russia acknowledged the blockade of the party on the country's main television channels
The leader of the A Just Russia party, Speaker of the Federation Council Sergei Mironov - in fact the third party of the state - for the first time publicly admitted that his party was taboo in the federal media. If it were not for the hushing up of the party’s activities, it would have even won the “United Russia” elections, the leader of the “Socialist Revolutionaries” believes. Against the backdrop of increasingly active rumors that “A Just Russia” in the minds of the Kremlin party builders is ceasing to be the second party in power and that the fate of Rogozin’s “Motherland” is destined for it, Sergei Mironov’s statements seem practically oppositional.Mr. Mironov believes that the reason for the difficulties in relations with federal television channels is the machinations of “some part of the presidential administration.” At a meeting with Novosibirsk journalists, he complained: “Not only as the leader of A Just Russia, but also as the speaker of the Federation Council, I am faced with serious problems here. Our party is taboo on federal TV channels; we are not shown, we are cut out. How many times has it happened that the first or second channel takes an hour-long interview with me and does not show it anywhere. And this is a conscious information policy of some part of the presidential administration, and not the heads of television channels, and I speak about this responsibly.”
The head of the Institute for Strategic Assessments, Alexander Konovalov, in a commentary to Vremya Novostei, essentially agreed with the claims of the speaker of the Senate and the leader of A Just Russia, explaining that the presidential administration may have been afraid of what they had done: “Mironov’s words are a reflection of the processes in power. Initially, there was a project according to which adherents of Vladimir Putin had to vote for “United Russia”, those who remember the ideals of social justice (communist supporters) would support “A Just Russia”, and intellectuals would support “Civil Power”. And if all three parties overcome the seven percent barrier, the parliament will turn out to be a structure controlled from one center.” According to the analyst, the problem is that there is no such single center in power. The plan works if there is Vladimir Putin, everything is tied to him. But it seems that the president is planning, at least for a short time, to leave his post, and this is causing panic among the bureaucracy.
According to Sergei Mironov, if his party had not been under an “information blockade,” then in the future December elections to the State Duma it would have won over United Russia: “There is an information blockade regarding our party on federal television channels; we are not shown because that they are afraid. And if we are given a platform, then in December the results will be completely different.” Nevertheless, Mr. Mironov promised that the “more or less successful” result that United Russia will receive in the parliamentary elections will be their last.
“If the bureaucracy (and United Russia and A Just Russia are the parties of the bureaucracy) believes that Vladimir Putin is leaving, this will be a tragedy for it - the threat of loss of income, positions, and for some, freedom,” says Alexander Konovalov . “In this case, the bureaucracy begins to take care of itself, and Sergei Mironov begins to focus on the fact that he may have to really fight with United Russia.”
In the meantime, the Social Revolutionaries are trying to grab onto the unifying brand of Vladimir Putin and offer their services to the president to return to this post. The head of the upper house of parliament repeatedly suggested that Vladimir Putin stay for a third term, but since the president also repeatedly objected to changing the Constitution, which states that it is impossible to run after two terms in a row, Mr. Mironov found a way out. “Let’s elect a new president for four years in 2008, and then elect Vladimir Putin again if he wants,” said the leader of A Just Russia. “United Russia seems to be seeing off the president to retirement, and our party is saying : our president in 2012 is Vladimir Putin.”
Yesterday in Barnaul, Sergei Mironov said that on August 1 the number of A Just Russia would reach 500 thousand people: “The Federal Registration Service will register exactly this number of our supporters by August 1. Officially, we are the largest leftist party in the country, while the Communist Party of the Russian Federation currently has 180 thousand members.” Moving on from complaints about the second party in power, the speaker of the Federation Council remembered his real enemy, against whom the party was created. He sees the task of the “Socialist Revolutionaries” as bringing to the December elections to the State Duma all those who are disillusioned with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Addressing communist leader Gennady Zyuganov in absentia, Sergei Mironov urged him “not to call names or give derogatory assessments” of A Just Russia, and also “not to spit in the well,” since “if the leadership of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation intends to pass laws for the benefit of Russians, then they will have to cooperate with us in the future State Duma.”
The idea of primaries, popular among parties, did not pass by A Just Russia either. Mr. Mironov is counting on the help of regional residents in forming the top three on the party lists for the regional elections: “We will hold an unofficial vote in the regions to determine who they see on our party lists at the regional level. We will carefully study the results of these primaries and, based on this, form lists and, accordingly, the top three in each region.”