RIGHT CAUSE PARTY SUFFERS FROM INTERNAL RIFTS,

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 000201 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2019 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR KDEM RS SUBJECT: RIGHT CAUSE PARTY SUFFERS FROM INTERNAL RIFTS, LIMITED SURKOV PROTECTION REF: 08 MOSCOW 3355 Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Alice G. Wells for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Right Cause, a new Kremlin-friendly party created in November, continues to suffer from internal rifts and an uncertain relationship with the Kremlin that has left the nominated head of its Moscow City branch -- Evgeniy Chichvarkin -- exiled in London. Party leaders told us that the pro-business, ostensibly liberal party will target educated and entrepreneurial voters, with the intention of garnering between 8-15 percent of the vote in October elections. Those same leaders acknowledged, however, that Right Cause will operate within Kremlin-defined space and will have no formal relations with non-Duma opposition movements. Opinions differ whether the Chichvarkin saga resulted from a personal grudge or represents a message to politically-inclined Russian businessmen, but by any measure the case has exposed limits to the party's Kremlin patronage. End summary. Party Expects Registration in March, Seeks Liberal Members -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) The new pro-Kremlin Right Cause Party, formed in November 2008 from the ashes of three other parties (reftel), continues to suffer growing pains as it prepares to participate in October 2009 elections. However, according to Right Cause co-chairman Leonid Gozman, the party submitted it registration paperwork on January 21 and will be approved by March. ¶3. (C) Boris Nadezhdin, head of Right Cause's Moscow Region branch and a former member of the Union of Right Forces (SPS) Federal Political Council, told us January 23 that the party would target liberal-minded voters during its registration drives. Nadezhdin calculated that by appealing to educated, pro-business, entrepreneurial, and politically-inclined voters, Right Cause would receive between 8-15 percent of the votes in the October elections. (Note: Right Cause did not receive registration in time to submit party lists for the March 1 regional elections, which Gozman labeled a god-send since the leadership remained unprepared. Instead, the party will run single-mandate candidates in a few March municipal elections. End note.) The party's strongest support, Nadezhdin predicted, would be in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but the party nonetheless would register in more than 40 
regions. No Overlap With "Deep Opposition" -------------- ¶4. (C) When pressed on how much Right Cause could oppose the ruling government, Nadezhdin admitted that he was "unsure how far we can push into the deep opposition," or even on what issues. Improbably, Nadezhdin insisted that he joined the party only with the assurance that he could "say anything that I want to say." Later, however, he acknowledged that a key motive for joining was that he tired of laboring in the political wilderness, and now looks forward to "the chance to have my face on television again." Gozman and Nadezhdin both told us that Right Cause would not have any formal relations with the Solidarity opposition movement led by Garry Kasparov, among others; however, Nadezhdin detailed the close informal relationships that he maintains with Kasparov, Boris Nemtsov, and other opposition figures. In this way, Nadezhdin said that he hopes to keep "feet in both worlds, in the Kremlin and in the deep opposition." Party Troubled By Internal Rifts -------------- ¶5. (C) By Gozman's admission, Right Cause's biggest problem is intra-party feuding. Stitched together in November from the remnants of the Democratic Party, Civil Force, and a rump faction of SPS, Right Cause has struggled to speak with a united voice outside of press conferences by party co-chairs Gozman, journalist Georgiy Bovt, and Delovaya Rossiya leader Boris Titov. Gozman, still sporting an SPS lapel pin in our meeting, told us that problems are particularly nettlesome in the regions. Nadezhdin explained that, in December, regional branches argued incessantly over whether former SPS or Civil Force members would lead them, and the party's national leadership was unable to solve the disagreements quickly or privately. Partly as a result, Right Cause did not register branches in Kaliningrad, Perm, or the Jewish Autonomous Region. To this day, the party lacks its own national website, continuing instead to use the SPS website and domain name. Amid this internecine conflict, Nadezhdin boasted that he has been free to operate the Moscow Region branch relatively freely and without Kremlin supervision. Indeed, he set up a separate website for his branch and hired his own press secretary. Chichvarkin Case Exposes Limits of Kremlin Protection -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) Since early January, the case of Evgeniy Chichvarkin has troubled Right Cause and exposed the limits to its Kremlin protection. In September 2008, authorities questioned Chichvarkin -- the former head of Evroset mobile phone company -- in connection with the 2003 abduction and extortion of a Evroset exporter. Also in September, under what Nadezhdin told us was strong pressure from security services, Chichvarkin sold his stake in Evroset to billionaire Aleksandr Mamut. Despite increasing police pressure, Right Cause tapped Chichvarkin in November to head its Moscow City branch. Nadezhdin explained that Chichvarkin "was seeking political protection by joining a party" that cooperates with the Kremlin. On December 22, Chichvarkin fled to London, and on January 13 a Russian prosecutor charged him with kidnapping and extortion. ¶7. (C) In public, party leaders proclaimed Chichvarkin's innocence, with Gozman telling a January 26 press conference that "his case is revenge for his success in business." In response, Vice Premier Igor Shuvalov told press January 29 that "there is no signal to Russian business." In private meetings, however, party leaders revealed that Chichvarkin's situation stemmed instead from long-simmering rivalries with Kremlin factions. Nadezhdin told us that Chichvarkin had made enemies with the security services, which Gozman confirmed included the Interior Ministry. Explaining why Chichvarkin was given a prominent position in Right Cause given such hefty political baggage, Gozman explained that "he is in the party because he wanted to participate." In any case, Gozman added, Kremlin Deputy Chief of Staff Vladislav Surkov, who masterminded the creation of Right Cause, approved Chichvarkin's proposed high-level participation. ¶8. (C) The significance of Chichvarkin's case remains unclear. According to Nadezhdin, it is intended primarily as a message to prospective Right Cause members that party membership has its limitations. "There are forces taking sides against each other in the Kremlin," Nadezhdin confided, "against our people in the Kremlin." Our people, he clarified, meant Surkov. Gozman, on the other hand, observed that Chichvarkin's case was the result of making enemies with the security services. In either case, siloviki forces in the Kremlin publicly constrained a visible participant of the so-called "Surkov Project" that created Right Cause. ¶9. (SBU) Following a court's January 28 arrest in absentia of Chichvarkin, Gozman announced that Right Cause would soon nominate a new head of its Moscow City branch. Potential replacements discussed in the media have included Mikhail Prokhorov, Aleksandr Mamut (to whom Chichvarkin sold his Evroset holdings),and Aleksandr Lebedev. (Note: Billionaire ex-KGB officer Aleksandr Lebedev told Nazavisimaya Gazeta on January 27 that he hopes to join Right Cause because "it is a chance to somehow participate in the Moscow City Duma elections," and "as a typical Menshevik, I believe it is necessary to cooperate with the authorities." End note.) Vice Premier Shuvalov told Ekho Moskvy January 29 that it is possible there were "mistakes by authorities," leaving open the possibility that Chichvarkin's case could be reversed. Comment -------------- ¶10. (C) According to Gozman, Surkov personally approved Chichvarkin's participation in Right Cause, indicating that Surkov's protection inside the Kremlin has limits, particularly when up against siloviki security service elements. The message to prospective Right Cause members is clear: political opposition, even in a pro-Kremlin party, comes with circumscribed boundaries. Right Cause undoubtedly will receive its party registration, and by all observers' accounts will win seats in regional elections across Russia in October. The party will play by defined rules, however, which will cordon it well away from anything resembling authentic or "deep" opposition. BEYRLE