MOSCOW, December 17 (Itar-Tass) —— The list of candidates for the Russian presidency will be complemented with another name on Saturday. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation will name its contender.
The question of approving a candidate from the party will be the main item on the agenda of the second phase of the 14th congress of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, to be held at the customary venue – the town of Moskovsky, near Moscow.
There is no intrigue over the Communists’ candidate for the presidency, though – many regional branches declared their support for the invariable leader, Gennady Zyuganov, long in advance. For his part, the first deputy chairman of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, Ivan Melnikov, said that a final decision can be discussed only after the congress.
“However, the current mood in the party as it is, one can say with certainty that it will be Gennady Zyuganov. We are determined to win in the presidential election, and for that reason we are about to propose a person who is not only prepared to conduct an election campaign, but also to run our complex, great state,” Melnikov said.
Zyuganov, too, has declared that he is prepared to join the presidential election race. Back last April, interviewed in a late night one-on-one Pozner talk show on Channel one Zyuganov said that he would run for president, adding though, that a final decision was up to the congress to make.
The nomination of Zyuganov will not be the sole item on the agenda. The delegates will hear two policy statements.
“The party’s leader Gennady Zyuganov will make the main political report,” Melnikov told Itar-Tass. “The report will be a fundamental one. It will address such issues as the new situation that is taking shape in the political system and the country in general.”
At the same time, as Melnikov said, the report will “sound a loud message to society the Communist Party’s candidate is not just its representative in the election campaign, but a figure for all those who aspire change to rally around.”
The day after the congress, on Sunday, December 18, the Communist Party will hold a protest action in Moscow’s Manezh square.
In the December 4 parliamentary elections the Communists gained 19.19 percent of the votes to get 92 parliamentary seats. In the previous, 5th State Duma the Communist Party had 57 mandates.
Russia’s presidential election is due on March 4, 2012. The election campaign began on November 25.