MOSCOW, June 5 (Itar-Tass) — On Monday, a businessman Mikhail Prokhorov stated about the creation of the Civil Platform Party. This will be a party of a new type that has no counterparts in the world, he said. The party will have neither ideology nor the leader and its numerical strength will be limited with 500 members. Meanwhile, Prokhorov does not intend to join his own party. The experts take his plans sceptically. This is not a party, but imitation, his opponents believe.
The Kommersant daily quoted Prokhorov that “party constructions of all countries are outdated.” The businessman named as a disadvantage of the current party system a high dependence of the parties from personal interests of their leaders and sponsors, but not people. “Therefore, all of us will be rank-and-file members of Civil Platform,” Prokhorov said with confidence that all this will help the party to response urgently to the challenges of the present times and the civil society will bring worthy leaders to power.
Prokhorov’s accomplices took this new project with enthusiasm. “There are many people, who can work and lead other people. But they have no license for political activities. To run in the elections they should join some party. The party under creation will give an opportunity to the civil society to nominate their candidates for the posts in the authorities,” the former State Duma deputy Yevgeny Roizman believes.
“Frequently a person, who wants to run in the elections, cannot find a party, which would nominate him, he does not suit either the Communist Party or United Russia. In this case there is an opportunity to change it,” Yaroslavl Mayor Yevgeny Urlashov believes.
The experts take the creation of the party sceptically. “This form of the party project resembles a construction, which the sects use. But it is clear that a party without any ideology and a leader is not a party. I believe that Prokhorov and its strategists have taken a too complicated decision and this party will not be popular. Its goal is to fulfil a party project as it is, but the irritation that the party will inevitably raise will be used for political strategic purposes, but the stake is put on this,” a political expert Alexei Mukhin believes.
The Vedomosti daily named Prokhorov’s project as “an imitation of the party.” “Prokhorov is creating a miracle machine for promoting people to the posts in the authorities, but the construction looks artificial,” Ivan Starikov, who participated in a meeting with the organizer of the new party, believes.
Prokhorov’s former accomplice Boris Nadezhdin believes that Prokhorov’s actions are coordinated at the highest level in the Kremlin. Nadezhdin took with understanding the intentions not to create anything serious, because next federal elections will be held just in four years, and it is senseless to keep a big party all this time.
The Trud newspaper reported that probably this is not Prokhorov who is creating a party, “It becomes more and more obvious that Prokhorov is not independent in his decisions. That someone rules him in this difficult globalized world,” the newspaper believes.
Prokhorov stated that he did not agree on his decision to create a party in such format with the government and the Kremlin and acknowledged that he will not participate in the protests on June 12, the Moskovsky Komsomolets daily reported. “I will not forbid anything to my supporters, it is a private business for each of them,” Mikhail Prokhorov added in the democratic style. In reply to a question whether he will run for Moscow mayor he answered, “This is a question to the Muscovites. We will hold the primaries, if I win them, I do not rule out that I will run in Moscow mayoral elections.”