A Just Russia uniting with For Truth, Patriots of Russia parties - party leader
MOSCOW. Jan 20 (Interfax) - A Just Russia party leader Sergei Mironov has announced that A Just Russia will soon merge with the For Truth and Patriots of Russia parties.
"As a result of a long series of negotiations I've held with various parties over the past two years, it has been decided in principle that three political parties, i.e., A just Russia, the Patriots of Russia party, and Zakhar Prilepin's For Truth party, will unite in the near future," Mironov told journalists on Wednesday.
The joint party will be called A Just Russia - For Truth, he said.
Mironov said he expects to chair the new political party, while the leaders of the two other parties might be co-chairmen.
"There will be one chairman. I hope my colleagues will support my nomination. There will also be two co-chairmen. As for the party's name, it will be a long one. Most probably, the shorter name will be A Just Russia - For Truth," Mironov said in response to journalists' question.
He noted that all three parties are already eligible to stand in the elections to the State Duma in September without having to collect voter signatures.
"Of course, the reason we're uniting is that we hope to consolidate all left-wing patriotic forces on the left flank before the State Duma elections, but that's not the most important thing. [...] Leftist ideas have a huge influence and huge popularity in our country, and we urge all left-wing forces to unite," Mironov said.
The media earlier repeatedly reported that A Just Russia was planning to unite with other parties. At the time, Mironov said that negotiations were ongoing, but abstained from providing any specific dates or identifying the negotiating parties.