LEBED/YAVLINSKY ELECTORAL BLOC EMERGES IN NOVOSIBIRSK.

In anticipation of the legislative elections that will be held in Novosibirsk Oblast on December 21, local supporters of retired general Aleksandr Lebed’s People’s Republican Party and Grigory Yavlinsky’s Yabloko movement have agreed to join forces and form a single bloc. In the run-up to last year’s presidential election Lebed and Yavlinsky conducted long but ultimately unsuccessful negotiations over a single presidential candidate. This is the first time their supporters have managed to agree on a united platform. Even so, it may not significantly increase their chances of winning seats in Novosibirsk, which is an established Communist stronghold. (Nezavisimaya gazeta, December 18)

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