Three opposition parliamentary parties are fielding a single candidate to run for a local district head election in southern Russia, in what a Communist lawmaker described as a “unique move.”
The Communist Party, Liberal Democratic party (LPDR) and the leftist A Just Russia party nominated Communist Yevgeny Ivanov at the polls later this month in Krasnodar region’s Timashevsky district, following an agreement reached on Tuesday.
“The situation is to a certain degree unique,” high-ranking Communist MP Sergei Obukhov said. “As a rule, LDPR and A Just Russia play for the party of power in Krasnodar, but here a consensus was unexpectedly formed.”
“A new tendency of uniting to oppose [the ruling party] United Russia is emerging,” he added.
A United Russia candidate and two independent candidates are also standing in the May 27 vote.
Krasnodar Communist MP Yevgeny Rashchepkin said this is the first such accord between the opposition parties, each of which has been accused at various times of collaborating with the Kremlin.
The three parties have fiercely criticized the conduct of the recent parliamentary and presidential elections.
A number of A Just Russia lawmakers have joined giant street protests against the rule of President Vladimir Putin. The protests have been continuing in one form or another since first erupting in the wake of the December parliamentary polls won by United Russia.
Obukhov also said the parties may nominate single candidates to stand in mayoral elections in the Siberian cities of Omsk and Krasnoyarsk.