MOSCOW. Dec 26 (Interfax) - Each Communist will have to recruit at least one new member to the party's ranks in the coming year, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov told Interfax on Thursday.
Zyuganov said that about 150 people joined the party during a 'Communists, Forward!' campaign that took place in 17 districts of the Vologda region last week.
"The Communist parliamentary faction will have to report back to the voters in Russia's 50 major regions, which are home to more than 80% of the country's electorate. Furthermore, each Communist deputy will have to hold no less that 300 meetings with voters," the Communist leader said.
On Wednesday, the Communist Party celebrated the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union in the Moscow region town of Reutovo. Zyuganov noted that a 2003 program of "protest rallies" will be unveiled after the New Year holidays.
"Leftist ideas are becoming increasingly popular in society, and are increasing the ranks of our party. Our short-term objective is to obtain no less than 150 seats in the State Duma at next year's parliamentary elections. All recent public surveys show that this is a realistic goal," he said.
Zyuganov added that by February 1, the united people's patriotic opposition will finish working on its program, which is intended to pull the country out of the crisis. He recalled that 2003 will mark the 60th anniversary of the Stalingrad and Kursk battles of World War II, the 10th anniversary of the Communist Party of Russia and 100 years since the creation of the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party.
Zyuganov again criticized the government's economic policy. "It is clear that all options have been exhausted, the economy is stagnant and the government is short of any new ideas. As far as political parties are concerned, in 2002 we have seen the party of power as a kind of a hybrid which has nothing apart from borrowed slogans and ideas," Zyuganov said.
The Communist leader said he intends to "put up strong resistance to people who try to bribe our members and undermine patriotic organizations."