THE PEOPLE’S PARTY GAINS WEIGHT

24.07.2003

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THE PEOPLE’S PARTY GAINS WEIGHT

Argumenty i Fakty, July 23, 2003, p. 4

Although the Duma election campaign will not start officially until autumn, political parties have already started campaigning, and fairly aggressively at that. Early this summer, one of the newest parties – the People’s Party – launched a campaign rehearsal by organizing a petition on a range of vital issues. The People’s Party considers that the president “is being held hostage by certain state officials” who are deliberately slowing down reforms. So the party plans to collect over 5 million signatures by July 24 on a petition which will be sent to President Vladimir Putin.

The 53 People’s Party members of the Duma have decided to “consult citizens in all regions of Russia on each key issue”, also using the opportunity to check that the party’s regional branches are ready for the upcoming campaign. The party’s political demands include: bringing back capital punishment for murder and drug trafficking; restricting the rise of electricity tariffs and other fees for housing and utilities; reviving rural Russia; fighting corruption; restricting violence on television; bringing back free, high-quality education and health care; and developing local government. Apart from that, the People’s Party considers that redistributing revenues from the sale of oil, gas, and timber would make it possible to raise pensions above the poverty line; and introducing a mortgage system would make housing affordable for young families.

A "QUIET" SUMMER: A FIVE-POINT LOYALTY ULTIMATUM FOR TYCOONS

Argumenty i Fakty, July 23, 2003, p. 2

By mid-August, the Prosecutor General’s Office may instigate five or six criminal cases. Reportedly, the evidence has already been collected, and the individuals involved are meant to be Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Mikhail Fridman, Oleg Deripaska, and Andrei Melnichenko. Roman Abramovich is not on the list; he will be dealt with separately, since he holds state office (governor of Chukotka). The cases will involve privatization of some public property, financial machinations, and money laundering. Some other crimes are very likely to come to light as well.

Law enforcement agencies don’t want to back down. At any rate, they have no intention of quietly closing the file on the YUKOS case. This became clear after a fairly high-level meeting of security and law enforcement officials.

The oligarchs are already discussing a five-point ultimatum said to have been received by the chief executive of Yukos. These are as follows:

1. Stay out of politics.

2. Stop funding all political parties (the United Russia party is not funded by YUKOS)

3. Make no attempts to place his own people on party electoral lists for the Duma elections.

4. Find a way of publicly repenting, as Mr. Potanin has done.

5. Refrain from leaving the country in the near future.

The security and law enforcement agencies tend to be more active when the president is away from Moscow. He will soon leave for a tour of the Russian Far East and Malaysia; then he may take a vacation in Sochi.

So what is the overriding objective of the authorities in this situation? First of all, to create conditions for a mobilization policy on economic growth (to double the GDP by 2010). Secondly, to ensure that the administration’s supporters win at least 300 Duma seats. Thirdly, to redesign Russia’s internal structure into 35 regions. All this will require a strict hierarchy of governance, with no billionaires getting in the way.

How will the oligarchs respond? For example, it is within their power to bring the entire Russian stock market crashing down within a day or two. In fact, the stock market has already been falling. Over the past two weeks, the value of Russian enterprises has dropped by $15 billion. Up to $3 billion has been transferred abroad. And this is only a beginning. Meanwhile, in the West YUKOS is recognized as one of the best international companies in terms of return on investment.