MOSCOW, December 15, (ITAR-TASS). Former deputy of the State Duma lower house of Russian parliament Gennady Gudkov is elected as leader of the Russian Party of Social Democrats. Veteran of the special task forces of the Russian Interior Ministry, vice-president of the Russian national academy on the studies of corruption problems in Russia Aleksey Burnavtsev was elected as chairman of the party. State Duma deputies Ilya Ponomarev and Dmitry Gudkov were elected in the political council of the party.
At the party’s founding congress, taking the floor at the congress and in replies to the questions of journalists Gennady Gudkov stated repeatedly that the party “calls for the construction of a social state, which will provide people with affordable housing, affordable education and affordable medical services and ecologically friendly environment” as well as the observation of the human rights in the political sphere.
The party programme also envisages the electability of judges and a legislative permit for ‘the strike of solidarity’.
“Our main task is to come to power in 2016,” the party’s chairman said. “We will be fighting for power, but not for a niche in the state authorities,” the politician said, noting that “at least 20-25 percent of votes will give an opportunity to be included in the country’s government.”
Gennady Gudkov has declared the policy for the creation of ‘a coalition party’ and named the Communist Party of Russia on the left wing, the Green Alliance - People’s Party, the Yabloko Party and Aleksey Navalny’s People’s Alliance as his allies. “It is important that candidates from the opposition will not be the rivals at the elections. We have some ideological disagreement with Navalny, but the social democracy is a social doctrine and democracy. From the point of view of democracy we have no disagreement with Navalny,” the leader of the newly formed party said.
Meanwhile, leader of the Green Alliance - People’s Party Gleb Fetisov stated that he is not prepared to say about a merger with Gennady Gudkov’s Social Democrats yet. “We are certainly sympathising with this newly formed party (the Russian Party of Social Democrats - Itar-Tass eds) , we certainly want to have friendly relations with them. We understand against whom we will have allied relations, but we do not realise clearly for what we will have friendly relations,” he noted. A Communist representative did not participate in a founding congress of the Russian Party of Social Democrats. He failed to attend the congress over the bad state of health, Gudkov added. Chairman of the party Russian All-People’s Union Sergei Baburin attended the congress as a guest.
Banker Aleksander Lebedev has sent his message of greetings to the congress. “I would be happy if Aleksander Lebedev had joined our party and not over the money, which he probably has or probably does not have,” Gudkov noted. “I do not see anything bad, if major business people not involved in the crimes will fund our party. The more money we will have, the quicker we will come to power,” he added, recalling that “Savva Morozov (Savva Morozov is a famous Russian industrialist and theatrical patron at the beginning of the 20th century - Itar-Tass eds) has funded the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party and the Bolsheviks.”
State Duma deputy Ilya Ponomarev stated at the party’s congress that the social base of the newly formed party are “hired employees and the middle class.”
“The party will file the documents for registration after regional branches of the party hold founding assemblies. This will be done in 2014,” lawmaker Gennady Gudkov noted.