Split in Communist party

Moscow has hosted two Communist Party congresses. Each of them had a quorum and was attended by Justice Ministry and Central Election Commission representatives, but the decisions were completely different. Gennady Zyuganov retained power in the party, but Ivanovo governor Vladimir Tikhonov replaced him in this post. Now, it will be up to the Justice Ministry to clear up the mess, Izvestia writes.

According to the newspaper, the ministry may find the Tikhonov-led congress legitimate in a month or two. This will be done only when the reports of the ministry's representatives have been thoroughly analyzed.

The Zyuganov wing's attempt to appeal against the decision in court will not bring the desired result and thus, the alternative Tikhonov Central Committee will cease to be alternative and will head the party. Then Zyuganov's supporters will be in for another blow: in fall the State Duma will pass a law on the "imperative mandate", giving parties the right to revoke the mandates of deputies elected by party lists from parliament and replace them with others. Afterwards all Tikhonov will have to do is replace some deputies with others, Izvestia writes.