| July 14 marked two years since the new law on
political parties came into force. Previously-registered socio-political
movements were given two years to re-register in line with the
new requirements.
The Justice Ministry's list now includes 24 parties which have
gained the coveted accreditation. Two years ago, there were 199.
However, specialists believe that the number of new parties
will double by December. Any parties registered later than that
would be unable to participate in the parliamentary elections
of 2003. Still, it would appear that the record set in December
1999 - when 169 parties were ready to take part in the Duma elections
- will never be broken.
"A political party is an expensive pleasure these days,"
noted one political consultant who "organized" five
parties in two months in autumn 1999. Back then, it cost only
USD10,000-15,000 to launch a party on a "turnkey basis”
, and required the involvement of only three or four people. The
consultant estimates that two-thirds of those 169 parties were
"made to order".
Of course, this doesn't apply to the real political parties
which have been re-registered: the Communist Party, the Union
of Right-WingForces (SPS), Yabloko, or the Liberal Democratic
Party of Russia (LDPR). However, the new list of registered parties
already includes, for example, parties such as the Russian Political
Party of Peace and Unity, led by Sazhi Umalatova. Interestingly
enough, it is registered as having 16,465 members; while the URF
has only 14,646 members. Then there are the 13,996 members of
the Svyatoslav Fedorov Russian Self- Government Party, led by
Levon Chakhmakhchian. And the 11,780 members of the Russian Stability
Party, based in St. Petersburg and led by Vladimir Sokolov, honorary
member of the Russian Geographical Society and council member
of the Russian Union of Suvorovites, Nakhimovites, and Cadets.
It will become clear soon enough why these parties have been registered.
The political consultant comments: "Creating a new party
these days, up to turnkey stage, costs at least $250,000. Or a
political order comes in from the Kremlin. The Conservative Party
of Russia, led by Lev Ubozhko, was probably registered to order
by the Kremlin. Ubozkho is a fringe element, and the few journalist
who know him openly describe him as a madman. It is hard to believe
that Ubozhko managed to find 10,630 supporters." And the
Constitutional Party of the Russian Federation, led by Yaroslav
Ternovsky, has 10,286 members. However, one undoubted virtue of
both these parties is that their acronyms - CPRF - are bound to
confuse a few thousand supporters of the Communist Party of the
Russian Federation when the time comes to vote. |
