VZCZCXRO0444
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #2856/01 3421533
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081533Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5754
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHLN/AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG 3630
RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 1802
RUEHYG/AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG 2055

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 012856 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/RUS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM RS
SUBJECT: COMMUNIST PARTY DEPUTY CHAIRMAN LOOKS TO HIS 
PARTY'S FUTURE 
 
REF: A. (A) MOSCOW 12498 
 
     ¶B. (B) YEKATERINBURG 410 
     ¶C. (C) MOSCOW 12708 
 
MOSCOW 00012856  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
 ¶1. (SBU) Summary.  In a December 6 meeting with EUR/RUS 
Director Mary Warlick, Communist Party (KPRF) Deputy Chairman 
Ivan Melnikov offered reactions to current domestic political 
events that confirmed his rumored social democratic leanings, 
and that suggested he was positioning himself to replace KPRF 
Chairman Gennadiy Zyuganov should the latter decide to 
retire, as rumored, in 2008.  Melnikov confirmed that the 
KPRF would challenge in court recently-adopted  electoral law 
amendments.  He did not exclude KPRF cooperation with liberal 
democratic parties, such as the Union of Right Forces (SPS) 
and Yabloko.  Melnikov strongly backed fewer restrictions on 
internal migration in order to lessen regional economic 
disparities.  He thought that immigration, on the contrary, 
should be strictly controlled. "Other Russia" adherents Garry 
Kasparov and journalist Yevgeniya Albats report that Melnikov 
heads a KPRF faction interested in edging Chairman Gennadiy 
Zyuganov to the exit and pointing the party to a more social 
democratic future. End summary. 
 
----------------------- 
Election Law Challenges 
----------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU)  Warlick asked about the recent set of electoral law 
amendments that abolish the required minimum voter turnout, 
allow the removal of candidates from the ballot for 
"extremism," and forbid the use of "negative" campaigning 
(ref a).  Melnikov said his party would challenge the 
amendments in the Constitutional Court by the end of January 
2007, and maintained the Court would discredit itself if it 
did not find some of the amendments unconstitutional. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The KPRF, said Melnikov, also plans to mount a court 
challenge to the practice of using a "locomotive," i.e., 
placing well-known candidates with name recognition at the 
head of party lists in regions where it is clear they will 
not serve if elected.  (In the October 8 Lipetsk regional 
elections, Chairman of the Federation Council Sergey Mironov 
was on the Party of Life ballot, although it was obvious he 
had no plans to be a deputy there.) 
 
-------------------------- 
Working with Other Parties 
-------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Melnikov contended that the second, 
Kremlin-sponsored party, "A Just Russia" had been 
"appropriating" many of the KPRF's platform planks, although 
none of the Rodina Duma deputies (the only part of the new 
party currently represented on the federal level) had voted 
for them when earlier proposed by the KPRF.  Melnikov 
regretted that the Duma had not passed legislation that would 
allow voters to recall Duma deputies who did not fulfill 
their campaign promises. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The KPRF has begun to see the value of working with 
some of the liberal democratic parties, such as SPS and 
Yabloko, said Melnikov.  While noting his disagreement with 
much that was in their platforms, Melnikov supported lowering 
the threshold for representation to allow those parties a 
voice. He said that the KPRF often finds itself voting with 
the western-oriented parties in the Duma.  The SPS's strong 
showing in the December 3 Perm by-elections notwithstanding 
(ref b), Melnikov thought it would be at least fifteen or 
twenty years before liberal democratic parties would find 
favor with voters.  In the interim, their main goal should be 
survival. 
 
---------- 
The Future 
---------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Melnikov refused to comment on media reports that 
KPRF Chairman Gennadiy Zyuganov would for a third time 
declare himself a candidate for president.  Zyuganov 
recognized that he could not go on forever, Melnikov said, 
and the KPRF was committed to nurturing younger party 
members.  The KPRF would devote serious attention to the 
matter over the next year, Melnikov said. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Melnikov joined Ilya Ponomarev of the KPRF's 
 
MOSCOW 00012856  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Information Technology Center (ref c) in asserting that the 
KPRF is becoming the party of choice among the younger 
intelligentsia.  In cities, especially in ones where there 
are prominent universities, the KPRF was seeing support 
increase among younger voters, despite poorer results on 
election day.  He claimed that some "thinking" people, 
disillusioned with the status quo, were voting for the KPRF. 
 
¶8. (SBU) According to "Other Russia's (OR)" Garry Kasparov 
and Ekho Moskvy journalist Yevgeniya Albats, Melnikov is 
affiliated with OR, as are other, like-minded members of the 
KPRF.  Among Melnikov's party allies listed by Kasparov are 
Duma Deputy Vladimir Kulikov, Central Committee Presidium 
member Boris Kashin, and MGU Political Science Professor 
Aleksandr Solovev.  All, according to Albats and Kasparov, 
are actively engaged in attempting to re-cast the KPRF, but 
they face resistance from the party's old guard and elsewhere 
on the spectrum from "young radicals" who would like to see 
more rapid change, both in the KPRF's platform and in its 
personalities. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Kasparov alleged that ex-Prime Minister Mikhail 
Kasyanov had been especially active in establishing contacts 
with disenchanted regional KPRF leaderships, who are looking 
for alternatives to the status quo.  KPRF Chairman Zyuganov, 
he said, was well aware of restiveness in the party ranks and 
was "maneuvering" to keep it in check.  Kasparov described 
the KPRF's plans to hold a rally in Moscow on December 10, 
Human Rights Day, as an effort by Zyuganov to preempt the 
more social-democratically minded in the KPRF rank-and-file 
who might be tempted to participate in a OR rally planned for 
December 16. 
 
----- 
NGOs 
----- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Although he had reservations about some NGO 
activity, Melnikov supported foreign pressure to ensure that 
foreign NGOs were not unfairly barred from working in Russia 
under the new NGO law.  While NGOs would likely see little 
interference for now, Melnikov cautioned that problems would 
start once international attention had shifted elsewhere. 
 
----------- 
Immigration 
----------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) While Melnikov said he was disappointed by the 
recent deportations and other questionable treatment of 
Georgians, he noted that the KPRF opposed policies that would 
encourage immigration of those who did not possess needed 
skill sets. The KPRF, however, firmly supports relaxing 
restrictions on internal migration for Russian citizens as a 
way of lessening regional economic disparities.  Melnikov 
cited Dagestan and Chechnya regions that would benefit from 
loosened restrictions on internal movement. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) Melnikov is a moderate and thoughtful interlocutor, 
who shows an opposition party's appreciation for democratic 
political processes and who probably recognizes the threat 
that the left-leaning "A Just Russia" poses to the KPRF's 
weakened position among Russian voters. Melnikov seemed 
acutely aware that the KPRF will need to reinvigorate or 
reinvent itself to stay competitive.  We have yet to see 
signs of the growing support among the disillusioned, 
educated young that Melnikov suggests are the KPRF's future. 
BURNS