Russian communists demand referendum

The Russian Popular-Patriotic Union's (NPSR) Staff for Preparing the Referendum decided on Tuesday that four questions should be on the ballot.

Head of the staff Gennady Zyuganov, Russian Communist Party leader, told journalists that the main question to be discussed during the referendum is the land issue. Communists and other NPSR members believe that agricultural lands should not be subject to purchase or sale, Zyuganov said.

The second issue to be discussed must be, according to the communists, the question of communal payments. They believe they must not exceed 10% of the family's overall income.

According to the communists, the size of the minimal salary and pension must exceed the subsistence level. This must be the referendum's third question.

The NPSR staff also believes that railways and other "natural monopolies" must be state property. This is the fourth question to be discussed.

According to the Law on Referendum, the initiative to hold a plebiscite belongs to at least two million citizens having the right to take part therein. Not more than 10% of total subscriptions can be collected on the territory of one constituent of the Russian Federation.

Zyuganov believes NPSR will collect "much more than five million subscriptions.

As, according to Zyuganov, the drive for a referendum is especially strong in the Krasnodar Territory (Russia's South), an initiative group will convene in this region in early September to appeal to Russia's citizens with the initiative of holding a plebiscite.

Zyuganov added that, according to the Russian law, a referendum must be held "6-8 months after an initiative group appeals for holding a plebiscite."