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BBC Monitoring
Putin has not yet formed his own team - Russian
Communist Party leader
Source: NTV International, Moscow, in Russian 1600 gmt 19 Jan 02
[Presenter Yuriy Lepatov] The congress of the Russian Communist Party is the main political news today. The official reason for holding it was the need to register it with the Justice Ministry in accordance with the new law on political parties. ...
[Correspondent] ... The Communists are saying that they are staying in the opposition. Their criticism of the authorities is becoming increasingly harsh. Just recently, the left was talking about its hopes in the new president. Now it is again saying it is not happy with the authorities and Vladimir Putin:
[Zyuganov] He talks about political values, his adherence to freedom of speech and so forth, but I see that behind his back they are trying to get control of all [television] channels, the oligarchs are trying to control whole territories. Massive moneybags ranging from [Roman] Abramovich [Chukotka governor] to [those in] Adygeya have already got into power, which you don't see in any other state, in principle. So you have to be very wary and cautious.
[Correspondent] You think he [Putin] does not want to deal with this, or that he can't?
[Zyuganov] I think he does not have his own team yet, so he continues the old policies. He has not even been able to form his own government yet.
[Correspondent] The Communists are in general cautious about the Kremlin's foreign policy and its possible rapprochement with the West. Economic problems could lead to early State Duma elections and we need to be ready for this.
[Zyuganov] The executive powers do not have additional reserves. So I will be worrying. I expect personnel changes in the government in the first quarter of the year. So, I do not expect a favourable situation for the authorities in this respect and they might try to hold elections earlier. It is not for nothing that they all rushed to hold their congresses.
[Correspondent] But not all the delegates agree that the party should join the irreconcilable opposition, all the more so that many communists are already in power.
[Mikhail Mashkovtsev, captioned as governor of Kamchatka] Most of the population is today suffering from the ulcer of capitalism, but there is nonetheless no inclination to return yet to socialism. So, our task is not one that can be carried out in a year. It is quite a difficult task - to form a firm belief among the population in the need to return to the socialist path of development. And this wholesale criticism of everything will not help us.
[Correspondent] The Communists remain the biggest opposition organization. But at the same time it is obvious that their criticism of the authorities increasingly resembles that of other parties who are not friendly with the Communists. ...
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