COALITION:

Three parties on the right of Russia’s political spectrum have agreed to cooperate in the December parliamentary elections. The three are Just Cause, the party of former Deputy Prime Ministers Anatoly Chubais, Yegor Gaidar, and Boris Nemtsov; New Force, the party of former Prime Minister Sergei Kirienko; and Voice of Russia, the party of the governor of Samara, Konstantin Titov. In the center, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov’s Fatherland movement is still in negotiations with All Russia, the organization led by Tatarstan’s President Mintimer Shaimiev. Former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, whom most polls suggest is the country’s most popular political figure, may join that group. The group called Russia Is Our Home, which includes former Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and the young parliamentary leader Vladimir Ryzhkov, is a sought-after partner but has announced no coalition plans.