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Russia: New Youth Movement Intends to Eliminate 'Regime of Oligarchic Capitalism'
INTERFAX

Moscow, 15 April: The new democratic and anti-fascist youth movement, Nashi, intends to eliminate the "regime of oligarchic capitalism".

Speaking at a congress of initiative groups to set up the movement, Marching Together leader Vasiliy Yakemenko who was today elected one of the new commissars or leaders of the new Nashi movement, read out its manifesto, which states: "The elimination of the regime of oligarchic capitalism is a necessary consideration of further modernization."

The text of the manifesto says that the "regime of oligarchic capitalism was created by the previous generation of political, administrative, economic and cultural leaders".

"Our generation does not intend to preserve it. On the contrary, we must eliminate it since this regime is in essence not fair or free and lacks solidarity. It maintains a weak and ineffectual state that is incapable of protecting the country's national sovereignty and the safety and rights of its citizens. It destroys social solidarity and enshrines inequality of opportunity for specific social groups," the manifesto says.

At the same time, the document says, "the first person to issue a genuine challenge to the regime of oligarchic capitalism by strengthening the state was Vladimir Putin". "Putin was first to state Russia's claims to world leadership in the 21st century. However, the impulse engendered by Putin encounters rabid resistance from opponents at home and abroad. At home it is supporters of the regime of oligarchic capitalism and political feudalism who are stopping the modernization of the country and abroad it is impeded by opponents of the country's gaining economic and politic strength in the global arena," Yakemenko said, quoting the manifesto.

"In this situation the Nashi movement will support Putin. This will not be support for Putin as a person but support for his political line which aims to preserve the country's sovereignty, implement its economic and political modernization, ensure its stable and non-violent development and its achievement of future global leadership," the manifesto stresses.

The movement's activists believe preserving the country's sovereignty and integrity is another important condition of modernizing Russia.

"We see Russia as a society where people are able to unite to solve common problems independently but without coercion or quotas. Freedom, justice, cooperation - these are our ideas about a future Russia," says the manifesto read out by Yakemenko.

Among the Nashi movement's tasks is the formation of a functioning civil society as well as the prevention "of the expansion in the country of the ideas of fascism, aggressive nationalism, religious intolerance and separatism that pose a threat to Russia's unity and territorial integrity".

Yakemenko also said that the movement intends to be one of Russia's main political forces in the 2008 presidential election. "We will take part in the presidential election as one of the main political forces and as for the parliamentary election, we'll just wait and see," he told a news conference during a break in the constituent congress.

In addition, he said that Marching Together would hold an election of a new leader in the next two weeks. At the same time Yakemenko let it be known that Nashi and Marching Together will not merge into a single structure and Marching Together will continue with its existing programme.

Speaking of the possibility of turning the movement into a party, Yakemenko said: "If it's necessary, then yes."