The heads of the YABLOKO party think that today we are witnessing a "crisis in the leadership of the CPRF".

"If we consider today's decision of the Duma and its consequences from the political point of view, it becomes absolutely clear that a group, a kind of "right-wing" headed by Gennady Seleznyov, has formed up organisationally in the leadership of the Communist Party," said Deputy Head of the Yabloko faction Sergei Ivanenko in his interview with journalists on Wednesday, May 22, 2002.

At today's meeting, the State Duma refused to dismiss the representatives of left-wing deputies' groups Nikolai Gubenko, Viktor Zorkaltsev, Svetlana Goryacheva and Valentin Nikitin, who made statements on stepping down from their posts as heads of Duma committees.

They made these resignations after the leadership of the CPRF faction and the agro-industrial group announced that representatives of these deputies' groups would resign from their posts as heads of Duma committees in protest of the revision of the package agreement [on assigning committees among the factions] in the Duma. The revision of the "package agreement" initiated by the centrist majority deprived the Communists of their leadership over seven of nine committees in the Duma.

At the same time the leadership of the CPRF declared that as a member of the Communist Party Gennady Seleznyov should leave his post of Chairman of the Chamber; however, he virtually refused to implement this decision.

"The Kremlin has achieved its goal - reduction of the political influence of the left in the Duma," stressed Sergei Ivanenko.

According to Ivanenko, the "position of CPRF leader Gennady Zyuganov is considerably shaken."

Nevertheless, according to Ivanenko, the Communist Party has not split up yet, but this is possible, if on Saturday the plenum of the communists decides to expel the whole right-wing group headed by Gennady Seleznyov from the Communist Party. "From today the situation for the Communist Party and above all its leadership has changed," said Sergei Ivanenko.

According to Ivanenko, Saturday's plenum of the Central Committee of the CPRF "will obviously deal with a different discussion than had been planned: it will discuss general political issues." Ivanenko also noted that it is one thing to criticise Seleznyov alone, and another if this fact refers to several prominent members of the Communist Party who openly declared their opposition to the course followed by Gennady Zyuganov."

According to one of the heads of Yabloko, in such a situation the Communists will have to find ways to conduct reforms from inside their party.

Based on Interfax reports.

See also:
Yabloko Against CPRF