| JRL HOME | SUPPORT | SUBSCRIBE | RESEARCH & ANALYTICAL SUPPLEMENT | |
Old Saint Basil's Cathedral in MoscowJohnson's Russia List title and scenes of Saint Petersburg
Excerpts from the JRL E-Mail Community :: Founded and Edited by David Johnson

#17 - JRL 2006-183 - JRL Home
Moscow Times
August 14, 2006
United Russia May Get Bigger
By Nabi Abdullaev
Staff Writer

United Russia is looking to absorb another political party in a move that would give the pro-Kremlin party even more influence over the political process.

Vyacheslav Volodin, the secretary of United Russia's general council, said late last week that talks were underway with officials from another party registered with the Justice Ministry.

Volodin declined to disclose which party but did say it had "views close to that of United Russia."

Four parties have been mentioned as possibilities -- the Russian United Industrial Party and the People's Party, both led by Duma members who belong to United Russia, the Agrarian Party, and the Pensioners' Party.

Gennady Gudkov, head of the People's Party, told RIA-Novosti it would not merge with United Russia.

Boris Makarenko, a Center for Political Technologies analyst, said Friday that it made sense to try to absorb certain smaller parties, noting that some of those mentioned could siphon as much as 4 percent of the vote away from United Russia in upcoming elections.

The parliamentary elections will be held in December 2007. Parties are required to win at least 7 percent of the vote to get into the Duma.

But gobbling up tiny, loyal parties that garner less than 1 percent of the vote, including the People's Party, Makarenko said, is not in United Russia's interest.

"United Russia needs these parties to sign different agreements, so these agreements look like an initiative coming from a dozen different parties and not only one of its own design," Makarenko said.

Yury Korgunyuk, an Indem think tank analyst, was skeptical of United Russia's plans, saying Volodin's comments amounted to a public-relations ploy.

Korgunyuk added that it was much easier for United Russia to secure victory at the polls by pushing rivals out of races than by merging with smaller parties.

The merger appears to be part of a larger effort to squeeze out most, if not all, Kremlin foes ahead of the elections. Measures targeting extremism and eliminating parties' power to forge coalitions, among other provisions, have already moved through the Duma.