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| Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov
AP
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The Communist Party of the Russian Federation is pulling out of the "Fair
Election" agreement, which was signed in August by all political parties
and blocs taking part in the election campaign (except the Yabloko party),
Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov told reporters.
He said the election campaign was increasingly looking like an "evil
farce". "As a result of the ruling group's policy, parliament
will be formally elected, but in fact it will be appointed by the Kremlin,"
Mr. Zyuganov said. According to him, the Central Election Commission has
not considered any serious questions connected with voting irregularities.
"The Central Election Commission ignores multiple legal violations.
For example, state-run TV channels are advertising the United Russia party,
but they show dirty and dishonest stories about the Communist Party,"
he said.
Mr. Zyuganov challenged the United Party to a live TV confrontation
to discuss key problems of the country. He said he was ready for a debate
with United Russia at any time.
The Communist leader also called for the creation of a reliable system
for controlling the voting process at polling stations. There should be
several observers at each polling station, and all irregularities should
be recorded and later considered in court, in Mr. Zyuganov's opinion.
All observers should get a copy of a protocol on the voting results. He
said his party was ready to provide five observers for each polling station.
According to a recent opinion poll by the All-Russia Center for Public
Opinion Studies (VTsIOM), five parties will clear a 5-percent parliamentary
threshold. The poll showed that the Communist Party would get 14.3 percent
and the Liberal Democratic Party - 8.7 percent. The United Russia, with
32.7 percent, tops this list.
See also:
Elections to the
State Duma, 2003
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