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Grigory Yavlinsky's party reminds the right-wing that the political
system in Russia has not been transformed into a three-party system
for the time being.
On the eve of 26 May 2001, when the Union of Right-Wing Forces
will convene for its constituent congress and transformation into
a party, it transpired that potential members of this party, possible
sponsors and the Kremlin administration were not the only ones
to place high hopes on this congress. At long last their neighbours
in the political niche have displayed some interest.
The Chairman of Yabloko, Grigory Yavlinsky, forwarded a special
letter to the congress of the Union of Right-Wing Forces. As well
as being a reminder to the leaders of the Union of Right-Wing
Forces of the coalition agreement with Yabloko signed in 2000,
the document also contains the plan for the possible cooperation
of the two parties for the near-term future. Usually obligatory
greetings constitute the main part of such a text. Here, however,
the letter described the problems that, in Yavlinsky's eyes, the
two organisations should seek first and foremost to resolve. Characteristically,
the document ends with the statement that the Union of Right-Wing
Forces and Yabloko can only achieve their objectives if they work
together, instead of simply wishing the new party a long life.
Yabloko leaders clearly want to demonstrate to the Union of Right-Wing
Forces that Yabloko fully understands all the difficulties that
the Union of Right-Wing Forces encounters at present, such as,
for example, the struggle for leadership, which is inevitable
during the establishment of a party (this struggle started before
the congress and clearly will not end at the close of the congress),
or the need to establish regional branches and create a new image
of a "one-leader party". Yabloko is prepared to wait and give
the Union of Right-Wing Forces time to become a fully-fledged
party, before continuing the process of forming a coalition. However,
it is unlikely that all the "brothers in mind" will agree with
the letter. For many leaders of the Union of Right-Wing Forces,
the relations with Yavlinsky's party represent an important instrument
in their struggle for influence within their own party. For example
the intentions of Boris Nemtsov to reinforce the coalition could
be used against him by the members of Democratic Choice of Russia,
led by Yegor Gaidar, who consider an alliance with Yabloko absolutely
inadmissible.
One of the major arguments of the opponents of the coalition
can be summed up as follows: the two parties have an absolutely
different electorate. Therefore, the electorate of Yabloko and
the SPS will consider this alliance almost as a betrayal. The
"irreconcilable" prefer not to mention that public opinion favours
the coalition of the two largest liberal parties. Essentially,
the political and economic impact of the activity of the right-wing
parties is more important for their electorate than their political
and ideological independence. They do not care about the terms
of the coalition between Yabloko and the SPS, as long as this
coalition will be able to stop the war in Chechnya and considerably
increase the welfare of the citizens of Russia. There is another
"uncomfortable" detail here: the "hostility" among the advocates
of the coalition of the two parties is in many aspects the result
of propaganda. This means that it can also be neutralised with
propaganda.
But the coalition of the SPS and Yabloko is an issue of principle
not only for opponents of Nemtzov. His opponents will have to
yield to the pressure of tough circumstances, even if another
person as chosen as party leader. The future of the Union of Right-Wing
Forces depends to a large extent on their financial and organisational
backers. Clearly the banking groups and aluminium tycoons did
not decide to support the right-wing forces owing to their concern
about the goals of members of several political organisations
(of which only Yegor Gaidar's Democratic Choice of Russia and
Sergei Kirienko's New Force were more or less known to the public)
that decided to dissolve on the eve of the congress. They agreed
to support the SPS in their desire for a powerful right-wing coalition
capable of withstanding any attempts to shift government policy
to the left.
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