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Vremya MN, May 23, 2003

Zyuganov and the Void
Analysis of the latest political rumors

By Leonid Sergienko

ESSENTIALS

Vicious dirty PR tactics allegedly made by some political consultants close to the Kremlin indicate how seriously the regime considers a possible communist alliance with some oligarchs. There are certain rumors in the political establishment regarding these undercurrents. According to rumor-mongers close to the presidential administration, political leaflets that appeared in Moscow's subway last week deliberately cast aspersions on leaders of several federal parties known as United Russia's rivals. These steps were taken to make sure that all these parties should suspect each other of using dirty political tricks. The orders to launch the attack are said to have come from the Kremlin itself.

HISTORY

Adobe Photoshop 8.0 software was used to make one of the leaflets - showing Communist leader Gennadi Zyuganov and Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky giving each other a hug. Their faces are somewhat distorted. "We stand together!" the slogan on the leaflet reads. The second leaflet depicts an apple with a price tag, the latter decorated with the hammer and sickle. The third leaflet refers to the PR campaign of the Union of Right-Wing Forces in support of small business, with the slogan "Small business means millions of jobs". The leaflet shows Boris Nemtsov embracing former Duma member Boris Berezovsky. The vitriolic text assures the reader that Berezovsky's return to Russia will create a great many new jobs indeed.

ESSENTIALS

Rumors circulating in the lower house indicate that the left-wing parties are afraid of the "information plotting" by the Kremlin. Leonid Ivashov of the Military Power Union and Sergei Glaziev of the Congress of Russian Communities are allegedly referred to as an example. According to people close to the communist faction of the State Duma, Gennadi Zyuganov refers to Ivashov and Glaziev as "good cop and bad cop".

HISTORY

On May 19, Ivashov suggested that the left would do much better if they formed two blocs for the election, a communist bloc and a patriotic bloc. He drew this conclusion on the basis of polls by ROMIR Monitoring. According to these findings, about 20% of those polled support communist and socialist ideas, and almost 60% share patriotic values.

That same day Glaziev came up with the opposite idea and suggested consolidation of the popular-patriotic camp. A working group should be set up to draw up a common concept and a patriotic formula that is comprehensible to all Russians. Glaziev attributed this need to the fact that the People's Patriotic Union was a hierarchic structure, while something quite different is needed for the election coalition. Glaziev's idea is supposed to serve as an invitation to small parties to come forward and form alliances with the left-wing giants.

ESSENTIALS

Rumor-mongers claim that circles close to Zyuganov view Glaziev and Ivashov as "the Kremlin's men". These circles believe that Ivashov is after communist votes (acting on orders from the Kremlin, needless to say), while Glaziev hopes to be put in charge of the election campaign of the People's Patriotic Union. Once again, in the Kremlin's interests.

WHO STANDS TO GAIN?

In fact, the suspicions of the Duma communists and the Kremlin's involvement may be exaggerated. Most probably, PR agencies employed by federal parties are just showing their clients what they can do.

 

See also:

State Duma Elections 2003

Vremya MN, May 23, 2003

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