Last Saturday the Rodina Party held a founding congress in Moscow. It became clear at the congress that the organization was restored. The event can be considered as a prologue of an upcoming November congress of the All-Russian People’s Front, in which Rodina will incorporate. However, the experts do not believe in the chances of the party to repeat the previous success at the elections.
The Moskovsky Komsomolets daily reported that the political analysts predict the emergence of a new pro-Kremlin party instead of United Russia already for several months. Until recently the National People’s Front was predicted to play this role. However, at its Saturday congress the Rodina Party gave a clear hint about its future role in Russian politics. “The Rodina Party considers the struggle for power and respect of compatriots as its main political goal,” the Rodina Party said in its manifest that was made public before a founding congress of the party. As in the years of its success, Rodina brings to the forefront patriotic values and national interests that are so needed in modern Russia. “We are convinced that only the ideology of active national patriotism can consolidate our people in a common political nation,” the Rodina Party said in its manifest.
Expert of the Institute of Modern Development Boris Makarenko said in an interview with the Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily that, “All this is obviously being done to meet the goals of the People’s Front, because the Kremlin has an illusion that the problem of United Russia will be solved this way. The state authorities seem to attract absolutely other voters under the banners of the second ruling party. But people see only a Putin-led second party in it.”
Political expert Mikhail Remizov told the RBC daily about the role of the political projects, which are being implemented by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin: United Russia is just a major matter of question now. To my mind, the president cautiously distances himself from the ruling party now. Putin is interested in his non-partisan status, also taking into account a falling United Russia rating. The criterion of loyalty is not the level of admiration for Putin or the approval for everything that the bureaucracy is doing. The state authorities are interested in a broad spectrum of political forces, which are just ready to play on the rules.”
“As for electoral prospects of this party, they are slightly lower than in 2003,” Director General of the Council of National Strategy Valery Khomyakov told the Novye Izvestia daily. The article is titled “Twice in one river”. “Then Rodina has an absolutely clear, understandable and objective ‘genetic’ rival – the Union of Right Forces. Now they do not have such rival, and it can hardly be imagined with whom Rodina is going to debate and compete. Probably someone assumed that he can step in the same river twice, but no one succeeded to do this yet. We deal with Rogozin’s personal political project, this can form nothing but a vague image of United Russia,” he underlined.