Unity, Fatherland and All Russia factions dissolved

Russian politics has suffered a great loss: three largest centrist parties have ceased to exist. Unity, Fatherland and All Russia factions self-dissolved on Friday. Yury Luzhkov has been enjoying the fact that his party became the only guiding power in Russia for a rather short period. Farewell to the party was not long. Sergey Shoigu voted against the party’s dissolution. He said: “Unity is not the EMERCOM yet, but still we are very close.” It was admitted as a comforting fact that the colleagues and friends would stay together to work in the future. Much sympathy of the audience was expressed to Fatherland’s dissolution during the session.

All Russia’s self-dissolution was held in a business-like, every-day manner. Members of the movement have completely forgotten about All Russia’s existence, and distributed authorities in a prospective party - United Russia. The movement has been transformed into the United Russia party; thus, the result has not changed because of the transformation, because the members are going to remain the same.

Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov, chairman of Fatherland, must have been regretting the faction’s dissolution, because he felt to have lost great opportunities of the alliance between Yury Luzhkov and Eugeny Primakov. He told at the session, he admitted the decision on self-dissolution to be right. Yury Luzhkov believes, Fatherland will be an active member of the newly created party that is to be dominating in many spheres of Russia’s politics.

Dmitry Chirkin PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Maria Gousseva

In the photo: Sergei Shoigu, President Putin, Yury Luzhkov

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/02/09/36846.html