3rd Post

This week I read an article about how Mikhail Gorbachev is branching off to form a new political party in Russia. He isn't alone in his venture, he's supported by Alexander Lebedev. This is a party independent of the Kremlin. The name of the party is the Independent Democratic Party, and it probably won't be very popular. This is because even though Gorbachev is liked in the West, he is disliked in Russia by the government because he was the ruler of the Soviet Union when it fell apart in 1991. In fact, when he last ran for president in 1996, he only won a half of a percent of the vote. The party wants legal and economic reform and wants independent media. Gorbachev doesn't expect to get any seats in parliament, but he does want youth and party splinters to join his party, especially with the lowering popularity of the right-wing SPS party. Gorbachev is smart about voicing his opinions on the government. For example, instead of directly criticizing the Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, he merely criticizes the practices of the ruler. This is smart because by not directly attacking the Prime Minister himself, Gorbachev manages to evade being killed by the Prime Minister's men. Gorbachev's new party would favor less state capitalism, which means he wants less government involvement in the economy. This is quite different from the current system in Russia. Gorbachev is also admired by the western countries because he won a Nobel peace prize for allowing peaceful revolutions that would eventually lead to the fall of the Soviet Union.