MOSCOW, July 2 (RIA Novosti) - A leader of the Republican Party of Russia, independent parliamentarian Vladimir Ryzhkov, presented liberals with a platform that can be used as a basis for their future unification into a new party."I suggest that the presented document be considered not as a program of the Republican Party, but as a potential basis for uniting all forces into a new democratic party," said Ryzhkov.
Visiting the conference were Nikita Belykh, the chairman of the federal political council of the right-wingers (many see him as Anatoly Chubais' man), his colleague on the party Boris Nadezhdin, and Irina Khakamada, the founder of the Our Choice party.
The Yabloko party of Grigory Yavlinsky was represented by Sergei Mitrokhin who emerged after Ryzhkov's report.
Ryzhkov read out the program that was voiced earlier. The program focuses on the social factor added to the traditional values of the liberals.
The top threats and challenges include the demographic crisis and the degrading human potential. According to the program, the unreformed security ministries (the Interior Ministry, the Defense Ministry, and the FSB) pose the most serious threat to the Russian democracy.
The Republican Party led by a board said it did not aspire for national leadership and called on the right-wingers to shift slightly to the left and hold a founding session of the new party to elect its leaders and name.
"The Republican Party is a new democratic party seeking to correct democrats' mistakes and to unite them [democrats] for the sake of a better future. We call on democratic forces to unite within a new party and to win free democratic elections," reads the Republican Party's address to Russian citizens.
