Four liberal opposition leaders unveiled a new political party Monday that they hope will win seats in State Duma elections next year, and invited former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to join, RIA-Novosti reported.
Mikhail Kasyanov, Vladimir Milov, Boris Nemtsov and Vladimir Ryzhkov became the co-heads of the Party of People’s Freedom, established at the congress of their For a Russia Without Arbitrariness and Corruption coalition in Moscow, the report said. Gorbachev was invited as the fifth co-leader, but did not comment on the offer publicly Monday.
The party plans to collect 50,000 membership requests before applying for official registration with the Justice Ministry next April, ahead of the December elections. A party must list at least 45,000 members in 50 regions to be registered.
(MT)
