Communists to march for presidency again

Gennady Zyuganov opened up in Vladimir Posner's show on Russia's Channel One. The Communist leader admitted that he was going to run for presidency again. Given that for head of the Communist Party the upcoming presidential election will be the fourth one, and that his chances to win, mildly put, are very slim, the decision simply cannot but command respect. Or, at the very least, make one smile.

The leader of the Communist Party ran for president of Russia three times. Zyuganov achieved the greatest success in 1996 when in the second round of the presidential election he secured 40.31 percent of votes. Yet, it was not enough to win. The leader of the Communist Party lost to Boris Yeltsin.

In the 2000 presidential election, Gennady Zyuganov secured 29.21 percent of the vote, losing to Vladimir Putin. In 2004, the Communist leader was not involved in the presidential election as the Communist Party was represented by Nikolai Kharitonov (13.7 percent of votes). The leader of the Communist Party came back as a presidential candidate in 2008. He once again took second place, while showing the worst result for the time of his participation in the fight for the presidency. He secured 17.72 percent of votes.

"I head the party, and I have been already suggested by a number of organizations as a candidate from the left people's patriotic bloc." said Zyuganov in Posner's show. "The decision is made by the Congress under current laws, but if I am offered, I will run." At the same time, talking about possible candidates for the presidency in 2012, Gennady Zyuganov said: "I do not rule out that they (Putin and Medvedev) will both run, but there will be the third candidate from our unit, a strong and competent candidate with a good program." In this case, the leader of the communists, of course, was referring to himself. Well, if one does not praise himself, no one will.

Remarkably, when asked about his own personal preference for head of state - Vladimir Putin or Dmitry Medvedev - the Communist Party leader said: "This is the same team with one direction, there is not much difference between them." Zyuganov assured Posner that for Putin he is not the "dessert" opposition. "No dessert. I am a very tough, strict and demanding politician. The authorities know it," he said.

In addition, the Communist Party leader estimated the chances of his party in the upcoming parliamentary elections as high. "Today more people vote for us than even in the most favorable years, and in the December elections we will do even better," he said. "To be honest, no more than one third will vote for the United Russia. I do not know one major social layer in our society that is happy with their current policy. "

However, Zyuganov evaded the direct question about the change of leader of the party. He did not rule out that in the "foreseeable future" a new person could become head of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, noticing, though, that he is "preparing and looking for" his replacement. "We are ready for change in the Central Committee. We now have candidates in all regional committees, and these candidates are basically people of 35-45 years old. This is good and worthy replacement. They know both the Soviet era and the new realities very well."

Zyuganov denounced the myth of his victory over Boris Yeltsin in the presidential election in 1996. "At the time the election was carried out according to an absolutely ugly scheme, then Yeltsin, in fact, won in million-population cities - 21 of them - in the Urals, North-West, Siberia and the Far East. I prevailed in Central Russia, and in the South from the Don to the Pacific Ocean. The country was split almost exactly in half. "

The party, of course, believes that Zyuganov will certainly be Russia's next president. For example, just recently the deputy Konstantin Shirshov, speaking from the Communist Party faction in the Duma plenary session, predicted that "this year in December as a result of a crushing victory of the Communist Party ... life will change in our country." The final shift will occur in March of the next year, when Gennadi Zyuganov becomes the president Russia," assured Shirshov.

Experts, however, do not share the optimism of Zyuganov's fellow party members. Of course, on the one hand, it is obvious that the old fiddle know many tunes. Zyuganov as a presidential candidate guarantees relatively good results. However, in terms of technology, a young politician would demonstrate that the communist idea in Russia has future and that the Communist Party is capable of modernization.

According to a political scientist, Professor Sergei Chernyakhovsky, Zyuganov's chances to win the presidency are slim. It is obvious that the Communist Party must show new faces and come up with new candidates.

"The most sensible thing that the Communists should have done is put forward the candidacy of Jaures Alferov in the past elections," the analyst believes. "The situation in the Communist party is complex: there are no bright young people in sight who would not cause tension in the dominant group after the issues with the leadership of the Central Committee. Zyuganov's candidacy, however, is agreeable with the majority of the party's leadership. The Communists do not have much room to maneuver. The nomination of Zyuganov is natural and logical," the expert concludes.

However, considering the experience in the past presidential campaigns, Gennady Zyuganov in 2012 at best will secure his traditional second place. Apparently, the permanent leader of the Communist Party is well aware of all this, and therefore promises to "continue to build the kingdom of heaven on earth."

Maxim Bogatykh
Pravda.Ru

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