| Last week the leaders of the right-wing movement
Committee “2008: Free Choice” announced their decision to
create a new Coalition of Democratic Forces with key goal of winning the
parliamentary elections in 2007 and the following presidential elections
[in 2008]. Sergei Ivanenko,
Deputy Chairman of the YABLOKO party and member of the Council of the
Committee 2008, gave Yezhenedelny Zhurnal his comments on this initiative.
I'd call the idea of Committee 2008 to form a democratic coalition quite timely. At the same time, it will be just the first phase in the establishment of a bona fide democratic force. Two major decisions have been made. In the first place, the Committee draw up a list of politicians who it thinks comprise the nucleus of the future coalition. Secondly, we decided that the coalition would be formed on the basis of preliminary voting. It is the electorate's opinion that will have importance, nothing else.
Consolidation of the democratic movement is the priority now. We have to collect everybody who shares and defends democratic principles without bartering them for any material gains. A candidate’s rating will be one of the most important criteria when forming the nucleus of the coalition. We are not a coalition of parties yet, we are an alliance of personalities for the time being. The political weight of these persons is the underlying principle for the formation of the coalition. We believe that these politicians will be able to attract voters. As Deputy Head of the YABLOKO party, I certainly inform my colleagues in the party about all developments.
The party views the initiative with interest.
I'd like to emphasize again that we are talking of the first phase only at this point. For the time being, this is a sort of protocol of intent. A great deal will depend on important details, for example on how primaries are organised. Naturally the political platform is the main issue. There will be several more rounds of consultations, negotiations, etc. But all these are nuances that do not change the essence.
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