Kasyanov said at a press conference yesterday that "the authorities are dismantling democratic principles." The cancellation of gubernatorial and mayoral elections and the rise of the barrier for parties at Duma elections to 7% were "the last signal to the democratic forces to start thinking and uniting" in order to prevent "the reconstruction of the Soviet regime with elements of state capitalism," Kasyanov said.
He said he is ready to search for supporters of democracy on the right and left wings, including "among Social Democrats."
Kasyanov sees himself as the unifier, a political heavyweight to whom all democrats will appeal, Makarkin said. "He proceeds from the assumption that Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky is exhausted, that nobody knows the new SPS leader Nikita Belykh at the federal level and that the future of the new democratic structure created by deputy Vladimir Ryzhkov on the basis of the Republican Party is not clear," Makarkin said. "Kasyanov believes that he will be in high demand against this backdrop."
Makarkin said Kasyanov needs to become acceptable to both the SPS and Yabloko so he will not identify himself with SPS. He has started talking about a search for supporters of democracy on the left wing. Kasyanov does not want to describe himself as an opponent of the authorities, because this would provoke questions about his ties with oligarchs and the sources of his funds.
"If the popularity of the authorities plummets, he will join the radical opposition. If the regime's popularity remains as it is now, he will act as a constructive critic," Makarkin said. "One way or another, his image in society is ambiguous and only the elite, not society, views him seriously as a presidential candidate."
