Dmitry Litvinovich: Another Scandal in the Union of Right Forces

Today, Deputy Head of the Union of Right Forces (known by the Russian initials SPS) Viktor Pokhmelkin held a press conference “Political crisis of the Union of Right Forces” to make an official statement about his further membership in the faction.

An inter-party split in the faction appeared a long time ago, but the SPS managed to settle the conflict inside the party. Several times, stories about conflicts between SPS leaders appeared in the press. They said that Boris Nemtsov fell out with Yegor Gaidar, Sergey Kirienko, and Anatoly Chubais, but no answer regarding the conflict was obtained from the deputies themselves.

The Unon’s middle branch started an open criticism of Boris Nemtsov in November. In an interview, Victor Pokhmelkin accused Boris Nemtsov of betrayal of the ideas of liberalism, for the protection of which the party itself had been created. Boris Nemtsov is said to be concentrating the party’s power into his hands and turning it into “an authoritarian organization." At that, financial circles spend big sums of money on the promotion of Nemtsov. In Pokhmelkin’s words, neither the party's ratings nor the ratings of Boris Nemtsov are increasing. That is why the deputy doubts whether Boris Nemtsov is a leader capable of increasing the party’s ratings. Nemtsov reacted at once to the statement. He said that every member of the organization can give an opinion about the party’s activity in public. This statement, in its turn, rejects any authoritative accusations directed at Boris Nemtsov.

The scandal has not faded at that. Then, the case of Vladimir Golovlev followed, which has split the party into two, over voting for the budget. After that, the parties had a time-out. Nevertheless, it is senseless to deny a conflict within the party.

Should Boris Nemtsov go on with his authoritative manners, it my lead to a split in the Union of Right Forces, and then the party’s monopoly in the sector of right forces will reduce to zero. Several rightist parties with aspirations to dominate positions on the political scene will then appear. There is information that the Liberal Russia party is being created by former or incumbent SPS members with the money of Boris Berezovsky. Mr. Berezovsky himself plans to profit from the split in the Union of Right Forces.

Dmitry Litvinovich PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Maria Gousseva

In the photo: Boris Nemtsov

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2001/12/19/34937.html