| Yabloko deputy leader Sergei
Mitrokhin told "Vremya novostei" on 5 November that Yabloko
is to "hold broad-based talks with various groups, including Sergei
Glazev's For a Decent Life" and "one of the future coalition's
goals will be to participate in elections."
According to the daily, Yabloko party leader Grigory
Yavlinsky and Glazev have already composed a joint statement about
the need to form a coalition of opposition forces "based on upholding
the constitution, the law, and the truth." According to Yavlinsky,
such a coalition of varied political forces could win not just 7 percent
of the total vote in a State Duma election but 35 percent, "Nezavisimaya
gazeta" reported.
On 12 December, right-wing and left-wing opposition groups plan to hold
a civic congress in Moscow, according to "Vremya novostei" (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 27 October 2004). Communist Party First Deputy
Chairman Ivan Melnikov noted that none of the parties "agree with
the political course our country is taking, with all the power concentrated
in one person's hands."
JAC
| 