Our Home Is Russia, the party of power headed by Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, put the finishing touches on its election platform over the weekend and released its star-studded list of candidates for the federal ballot.


The second stage of the party congress took place Saturday and Sunday, and at long last the suspense over who would take top honors on the federal list was ended.


Chernomyrdin leads the group, followed by renowned actor and film director Nikita Mikhalkov.


Mikhalkov's nationalist leanings are well-known, making his appearance with the center-right coalition party something of a surprise.


No. 3 on the federal list is Army General Lev Rokhlin, who gained widespread respect for his role in turning the tide of the conflict in Chechnya. Other well-known figures in the Our Home lineup include theater director Galina Volchek and former head of the Democratic Party, Nikolai Travkin.


The party platform yielded few surprises. Our Home's main political task, Chernomyrdin said, is to "consolidate politically and economically the policy which the country has been pursuing for the last two years.


"We will oppose all who want to turn back the clock, all who want to share everything, all who want to have people lined up in ranks again," said the prime minister, speaking at a news conference ending the congress Sunday.


Our Home is against any attempt to redistribute property gained as a result of privatization, added Chernomyrdin, and would launch a move to conduct a referendum on introducing private ownership of land.


In answering reporters' questions Sunday, Chernomyrdin stuck to generalities and platitudes, calling for firmer measures to deal with crime, and exhorting all citizens to get out and vote.


"One cannot stay on the sidelines," he said.


The party now has 3 million members, said Chernomyrdin, and exerts a strong influence on the political life of the country. He expressed confidence that Our Home would do well in the Dec. 17 elections, but added that the party had yet to become a major political force.


A key task for the party now is to attract new voters, Chernomyrdin said.


All of Russia's parties are facing the prospect of spending the next three months courting support.


Chernomyrdin lost no time in hitting the campaign trail, greeting his electorate Sunday afternoon in a press-the-flesh kind of affair in which the burly prime minister was photographed hugging stuffed animals and grinning at children.