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ONF to change name

Many newspapers write about the future agenda of the Congress of All-Russia People’s Front (ONF), which will be held on June 11-12

Many newspapers write about the future agenda of the Congress of All-Russia People’s Front (ONF), which will be held on June 11-12. It has already been decided that the movement will be headed by one collegial body. In addition, at the congress it is planned to expand the name of the movement.

The Kommersant daily writes with reference to its sources that one of the most likely options will be “All-Russia People’s Front - for Russia.” The movement believes that this name is more clearly indicating that it was created for the whole country.

Apart from the name, according to the Kommersant daily, representatives of parties will also have to solve the problem of how the new movement will sort with the parties that supported its creation. According to one of the versions, the preference among the founders of the movement will be given not to collective organisations, but persons. And if in the final version of the charter the individual membership is laid down, parties will no longer be able to join the Front in full strength as they have been doing until now when there was no fixed membership.

According to the newspaper, an option is currently being considered in which representatives of the leadership of all parties that supported the People’s Front - Patriots of Russia, Rodina (Motherland), United Russia, and the list could be continued, will become members of the ONF governing bodies.

“It will probably be not possible to avoid fixed membership in the movement, although we intend to maintain the broadest possible representation. Under the president’s name people with opportunistic reasons may rush to the movement, but under the ONF banner only decent people are to act. On the other hand, we do not force anybody to join the Front,” the newspaper quotes an unnamed ONF activist.

The Vedomosti newspaper quotes Secretary of the General Council of United Russia Sergei Neverov who believes that the ONF will become a highly sought platform where parties will be able to productively discuss issues of concern to everyone.

The ONF working group will in the near future decide on the structure of the ONF governing bodies. A source in the People’s Front told the Izvestia newspaper that it has been decided that one collegial body will head the movement that is likely to be called the “Central Headquarters.”

The collegial body will include several dozen people, presumably up to 50, the Izvestia source said. They will be the most authoritative ONF members and representatives of major organisations - members of the ONF. Representatives of three parties - United Russia, Motherland and Patriots of Russia will also work in the headquarters. “There will be not many United Russia members - probably a few people,” predicts the source.

“The members of the governing body will be divided into several groups, and each of them will have its own line of work. Basically it will be social projects in the sphere of education, healthcare and so on,” said the source.

Leading expert of the Centre of Political Conjuncture Dmitry Abzalov believes that not the governing body of the ONF, but the organisation’s regional branches will be doing the main work. The decision not to include in the governing body a large number of United Russia members is logical, he said. “United Russia needs a new look at the country’s events, they need to have an outside view. Therefore, they don’t want a large number of the party representatives in the governing body of the ONF,” said the expert.