Quotes of the Day

The recent revolutions along Russia's perimeter in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan have caused growing concerns in the Kremlin. Polls taken by the Moscow-based Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) sociological research service last week showed 42% of those polled admitting that they "have reasons" to join public protest actions.

Various political forces are now bracing for the 2007 Duma (the lower house of the Russian parliament) election. Ever-conflicting main establishment liberal democratic parties — the Union of Right Forces (URF), led by privatization czar Anatoly Chubais, and Yabloko, led by economist Grigory Yavlinsky — failed at the previous parliamentary election and have been marginalized by President Vladimir Putin. However, liberal values still hold in the Russian society. According to Yuri Levada, a respected independent pollster, some 30% of the electorate is ready to endorse a united democratic ticket, should it emerge.

Independent liberal Duma Deputy Vladimir Ryzhkov is actively working to build such a united democratic force. Ryzhkov sat down with TIME's Yuri Zarakhovich to disclose his plans for the coming 2007 parliamentary elections.

Why are the opposition forces so disjointed? On the left, the Kremlin launches bogus parties to split the opposition ranks. On the right, the Kremlin lifts its tight information blockade off and on just to let the URF and Yabloko leaders voice their bitter disagreements. Yabloko has grounds to reproach the URF for kow-towing to the regime and being the big-business party, indifferent to the people; the URF has grounds to reproach Yabloko for having lost credibility with the electorate. At the same time, both parties' leaders are so turf-conscious that they don't buy the idea of forging a new, united democratic party. They'd rather look backward than forward.

What is your solution for healing these splits in the democratic camp? A new democratic party to unify some 30% of the now disjointed electorate who, according to the polls, would endorse a strong united democratic ticket. None of the motley democratic groups, nor the URF or Yabloko stand a chance — the URF's and Yabloko's ratings are 0.5% and 1.3% respectively, while Putin has raised the threshold for admission to the Duma to 7%. But it's next to impossible to launch a brand-new party in Putin's Russia these days. So we use the long-established but small Republican party of Russia as the focal point for all the democratic forces. Earlier this month, we held an all-Russian conference of the Republican Party, with 180 delegates from 58 Russia's regions and guests from other democratic parties. All of them, except Yabloko as usual, said they were ready to discuss our unification plan.

You don't seem to have much time left before the election, do you? We can still do it. However, even if we have some 30% supporting us, it doesn't mean we'll have an easy ride into the Duma. The regime will be doing it's utmost not to let undesirables in.

How? They have just introduced new legislative amendments that let the regime keep elections under tight control, and facilitate a massive election fraud.

How so? First, they abolished the institution of single-mandate deputies [one district, one deputy] who made up half of the Duma. Now, candidates can run only on party tickets. Earlier this month, the regime hastened to ram more amendments through parliament: parties' registration fees doubled from $1 million to $2 million. The media are no longer allowed to observe the vote counting. In a nutshell, Putin's amendments have created deep mistrust of the future elections.

So what happens? Any opposition force that believes that they have been cheated and the elections stolen will most likely turn to the people. Georgia's, Ukraine's, and Kyrgyzstan's experience has shown that no other way exists to get the government to admit its crimes, except the citizens taking to the streets.

So what do the opposition forces do now? Demand fair elections. That should become the rallying point and the battle cry of the entire opposition, right or left. All other considerations must go on the back burner.

How ready are the Russian people for democracy, then? Polls firmly prove that the overwhelming majority of the Russians want democracy. They want honest elections, freedom of speech and opposition, and they oppose a one-party political system or a strongman rule. Russian society is no less democratic than the Ukrainian one. However, in Ukraine the people have streamlined their political system in accordance with democratic norms, while in Russia the people have yet to do so. Failing other means, they'll take to the street to accomplish that in a revolution of their own.

• YURI ZARAKHOVICH
• Ukraine-style people power could happen in Russia too