ZYUGANOV’S ELECTION PROGRAM MAY DOWNPLAY ORTHODOX COMMUNISM…

Presidential candidate Gennady Zyuganov plans to publish his electoral program on or around May 16. Informed sources say that, in a gesture of defiance to the other front-runner in the election, the Communist party leader may carry the fight into enemy territory and unveil his program in Yekaterinburg, Boris Yeltsin’s power base. Insiders say the final document will reflect the fact that Zyuganov is running not just as Communist party leader, but as the head of a coalition that includes an array of nationalist parties. Therefore, his electoral program will differ quite substantially from the program on which the Russian Communist party (KPRF) fought last December’s parliamentary elections and will also incorporate the ideas of a number of nationalist think tanks. Merging the various ideas into a single document is reported to be nearing completion. The work is being coordinated by Aleksandr Shabanov, the KPRF’s head of ideology and propaganda, and Viktor Peshkov (from the moderate wing of the KPRF), who is in overall charge of Zyuganov’s election campaign. (Segodnya, May 8)

…And Take On a Nationalist Tinge.