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By Anatoly Medetsky
Primorye leaders are wrangling over who should represent Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov's newborn but already influential nationwide political organization in the region. Two groups have independently created a branch of the Moscow-based Fatherland, but both are saying "There must be just one Fatherland for all." To decide on the matter, the Moscow headquarters has sent a member to gather and study information. The member, Dmitry Rogozin, who has been named supervisor of the party's Primorye branch, told a Jan. 22 press-conference that Fatherland leadership will make a "wise and responsible" choice between the two regional branches within the next few days based on his research. Luzhkov is considered a heavyweight on the national political scene and has been named as a possible successor to the ailing President Yeltsin. Luzhkov announced the creation of his national political organization last autumn and held a constituent conference Dec. 19, 1998. The party, he said, will aim at winning the upcoming State Duma elections this year and will unite "the sound forces of society." Three action groups in Primorye set up three regional branches of Fatherland in November and December. Two of them merged Dec. 29 under regional Duma Chairman Sergei Dudnik, while the other, headed by the high-profile regional official Nikolai Kretsu, re-established itself Jan. 14, enlisting the support of smaller divisions from Primorye's outlying towns and counties. Kretsu, who also was the founder of the very first regional Fatherland in November 1998, is the head of Primorye Administration's Department for the Organization of Primorye Oil and Gas Complex Construction. Gennady Lazarev, rector of the Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service, presided at the Kretsu constituent conference Jan. 14. He said, "We need to hold this meeting so that to rule out any dubiousness." Lazarev proclaimed his branch most legitimate: The group includes 224 representatives from 35 of the 38 local Fatherland divisions. The audience, which voted unanimously on all matters, waved off a request from Dmitry Rogozin to put off the conference until things clear up. Corporate staffs included officials from Dalzavod and Dalmoreprodukt, and political parties ranged from the tiny Political Centrism Development Fund to the national Congress of Russian Communities and Women of Russia. But the most valued participants were local activists from throughout Primorye. "Having local divisions in is a trump that no one will cover," said Irina Ilyukhina, coordinator of Kretsu's action group. However, as the conference was still going on, Dudnik said Rogozin should be the one to call a constituent meeting: "What is happening now is in violation of the charter [of Fatherland]," Dudnik said. He said the fuss about the Fatherland organization is because many want to associate themselves with the successful Moscow mayor. "Luzhkov's authority in Primorye is rather high," Dudnik said. "Many like his economic and organizing capabilities."
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