"FOR A JUST RUSSIA" POSITIONS SELF AS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MOSCOW 000845 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/RUS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PINR KDEM SOCI PREL RS SUBJECT: "FOR A JUST RUSSIA" POSITIONS SELF AS LEFTIST, OPPOSITION PARTY AS DUMA CAMPAIGN BEGINS MOSCOW 00000845 001.2 OF 003 -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) The second, Kremlin-approved party, "For a Just Russia (SR)" at its inaugural congress February 24-27 combined left-wing rhetoric, criticism of the GOR's performance, anger at its treatment in the regions, and patriotism in a credible effort to establish itself as an alternative to the governing, United Russia party. The often-lampooned SR Chairman Sergey Mironov delivered a keynote speech that hit all of the right notes. While dampening expectations for extravagant results in the March 11 regional elections, Mironov predicted that SR would cross the threshold to representation in each of the fourteen contests, leaving it positioned to contend with the reigning party, United Russia, in the all- important December State Duma elections. End summary. -------------- SR: Putin Present at the Creation -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The second, Kremlin-approved political party, "For a Just Russia (SR)" staged its first congress February 24-27 in St. Petersburg. SR was formed in October 2006 as a result of a merger of the Russian Party of Pensioners, the Russian Party of Life, and Rodina political parties. The creation of SR was welcomed by President Putin who, it was widely assumed, believed a managed, two-party system would arrest flagging popular interest in Russia's overdetermined politics and puncture growing complacency among politicians ensconced in the reigning United Russia (YR) political party. -------------- Socialist, Communist Internationals Burnish SR's Leftist Credentials -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Congress organizers reported that 299 of the 328 invited delegates attended the event. (Each SR delegate allegedly represented about one thousand party members from 79 regions countrywide. At one point during the plenary, Mironov claimed that SR was adding 40 thousand members to its roles each month.) Also in attendance were observers from communist and socialist parties worldwide, many of whom were invited, at the February 26 plenary, to greet the congress as a way of establishing SR's left-wing bona fides. -------------- St. Petersburg Governor Puts Stick in SR Spokes -------------- ¶4. (SBU) SR President and master of ceremonies Sergey Mironov followed endorsements from the likes of the communist parties of China, Cuba, and Transnistria with a message from President Putin approving the work of SR. Notably absent was an endorsement from the congress's "host," St. Petersburg Governor Matvienko. While publicly distancing herself from both YR and SR, Matvienko has channeled administrative resources to YR and has even, observers in St. Petersburg told us, gone so far as to deny SR representatives access to theaters, schools, and other venues. Others in St. Petersburg report that, during the week of February 19, teachers were ordered to meetings where they were told to vote YR. (One contact told us her summons was the first such instance since the collapse of the USSR. Her response, also a relic of the Soviet era, was to get a pink slip from her doctor.) Still, Mironov noted in his introductory remarks that the city government was represented at the Congress by Deputy Governor Viktor Lobko, whose uncomfortable-looking face was then flashed briefly on the television monitors. -------------- MOSCOW 00000845 002.2 OF 003 Congress Themes: Something For Everyone -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The Congress mixed healthy doses of patriotism (including two performances of the national anthem, attacks on Estonia's decision to remove its Soviet war memorial, and praise for Putin's Wehrkunde speech),left-wing rhetoric, schmaltz (boys and girls urging delegates to think of their future),and criticism of those in power (Putin excepted). In the audience with the delegates to rev up the crowd were members of SR's various youth groups brandishing Russian and party flags. -------------- Mironov's Stemwinder -------------- ¶6. (SBU) In the plenary's keynote speech, Mironov sought to position SR as an "action-oriented" party with a "socialist perspective." A successful SR would destroy "two monopolies": United Russia's hold on power and the Communist Party's "right to represent the interests of workers." SR, Mironov said, "wants a real, two-party system." He deplored the elimination of Yabloko from the ballot in St. Petersburg. That sally, which managed to simultaneously criticize Matvienko and position SR to pick up the votes of disgruntled Yabloko voters in St. Petersburg, won Mironov applause from thuSl~N=T{ed candidly the problems facing the party. SR was encountering "problems" in the regions, including difficulty in winning access to the media, blackmail, and the use of "dirty tactics." "Many governors are in YR," Mironov said. "And we know their relation to us." After noting sourly that the law gives an advantage to the incumbent party, Mironov promised delegates that, once in power, SR would work to eliminate the legal requirement for registered political parties to register for each election. ¶8. (SBU) Also in Mironov's sights was that hardy perennial, corruption, which must be treated as "treason." Reform of the courts would be high on SR's agenda. (Mironov's glancing reference to corruption was echoed by subsequent speakers.) Mironov then ticked off the four key economic points on the SR agenda: a "just" pension, a progressive tax system, the just use of natural resources, and fair pay. Mironov promised that teachers and doctors would receive "all of the benefits of state employees," and the stabilization fund would be used to that end. Pensions, Mironov said, should be at least fifty percent of the median salary. Just as Russia had paid off its external debt, it must, Mironov said to applause, liquidate the 1992 voucher debt to its own citizens. SR, Mironov summed up, offered a "new socialist perspective" which would have Russia, "like other rich countries," aid its citizens through the state sector. -------------- Local SR Chairman Sees "Fear" Returning to Russia -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Mironov's well-delivered speech was followed by the reading of congratulatory telegrams from Accounting Chamber Chairman Sergey Stepashin and Kamchatka Governor Mashkovtsev (the only Governor to cast his lot with SR). Nine other speakers followed Mironov, with remarks by Duma Deputy Oksana Dmitrieva, actress Rima Markova, and local SR Chairman Oleg Nilov (St. Petersburgers all) winning the loudest applause. Dmitrieva, who heads SR's list in St. Petersburg, concentrated her fire on the GOR's failed pension reform, substandard housing programs, and lack of support for small business. MOSCOW 00000845 003.2 OF 003 ¶10. (SBU) Nilov's indictment of the status quo was more sweeping. An almost forgotten sensation, "fear," he said, was returning to Russia. No member of the GOR was willing to join SR, and the current appearance of election legality cloaked the real state of affairs. Visibly sweating, Nilov asked, "did we really lose millions of lives (during WWII) only to again live in fear? We need to return credibility to the political system. I appeal to United Russia to join us in this task." -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Although many were prepared to see SR as a puppet opposition party, Mironov's sense of outrage at the obstacles encountered by his party in the regions seemed genuine, as did his efforts to present SR as an ideological and practical alternative to YR. In a conversation after the plenary, delegate Oksana Dmitrieva was at pains to downplay the left-wing rhetoric that had studded many of the day's speeches. "They talk, but we're the ones who will write the legislation," she said, and insisted that SR would pursue a moderate course should it win a respectable minority in the Duma. The chief threat to SR, Dmitrieva said, was not the left, but those currently in YR who may cast their lot with SR should it do well enough in the March 11 regional elections. Those opportunists, she thought, would undercut what she hoped was SR's sincere intention to address some of the problems described by speakers during the plenary. BURNS