#9
Vek
No. 41
October 19, 2001
TOO MANY LOYALISTS
Pro-Putin parties all the way across the political spectrum
Author: Andrei Ryabov
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]

THE CURRENT SPATE OF PARTY CONGRESSES AND CONGRESSES HAS ONE FEATURE WHICH DOES RAISE A QUESTION. MOST PARTIES, OLD AND NEW, SUPPORT THE PRESIDENT AND MAINTAIN CLOSE CONTACTS WITH THE PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION. WHY DOES THE KREMLIN NEED SO MANY GENERALLY LOYALIST PARTIES?

It's quite normal for Russian political parties to become more active in autumn. The new political season opens, and all parties aim to finalize their plans and perfect their tactics. This autumn, such issues are more relevant than ever. The new law on political parties, which has recently come into effect, is making the hordes of party functionaries of all shades and colors rush to bring their organizations into compliance with new requirements.

However, the current spate of party congresses and congresses has one feature which does raise a question. It's no secret to anyone who seriously follows Russian politics that most parties, old and new, regardless of their ideological orientation (from right-wing liberals to the social-democrats), support the president and maintain close contacts with the presidential administration. Only the Communist Party - and Yabloko, to some extent - are somewhat politically distanced from the Kremlin. But if that's the case, there is a reasonable question: why does the presidential administration need so many generally loyalist parties? After all, the executive branch already has people to represent its interests in the Duma. There seem to be no vacancies for neophytes, since - contrary to expectations - a party system has been established in Russia, and all the best places are already taken by parties which have been in the Duma for a long time. Moreover, the new law will make it much more difficult for new parties to gain admittance to this elite club. So the center-left position in the future Duma will be contested by united social- democratic party now being formed, Gennadi Raikov's People's Party, and maybe some other party. The Union of Right Forces and Mikhail Prusak's Democratic Party of Russia will compete for the right-wing position. It's quite possible that even more parties will join the contest for right-wing, centrist, and social-democratic positions across the party-political spectrum, all keeping within the Kremlin's general line, by the time the next parliamentary elections are held. It is already clear that almost none of this autumn's new parties have any chance of making it into the Duma. So why all this fuss and bother?

There are two possible answers. The first is that in the present international situation (Russia and its economy are closely integrated into the global economy and global politics), it's very important for President Putin to keep some room for maneuver. Putin presently relies on the right-centrist forces in the Duma. But what if the situation changes tomorrow, requiring a shift to the left? After all, the president can't rely on the Communists for support; they have their own ambitions and agenda. And Putin has no substantial center-left political force at his disposal. That's why the presidential administration is looking at this area.

The second possible answer is that there's no point looking for a deep political strategy here, since the Kremlin's policies are not monolithic, escpecially not in regard to party-building. There are various interest groups within the presidential administration, with their own plans, and parties of their own creation which they aim to promote, just on the off-chance that some will be successful.

It will soon become clear which of these assumptions is correct. If it's a matter of presidential strategy, the least promising projects will soon fall by the wayside. If a Kremlin faction-fight is behind the boom in party-building, the parties will survive until the next elections in their present form, competing with each other; and those elections will probably bring their inglorious existence to a close.

(Translated by Arina Yevtikhova)