MOSCOW - The speaker of Russia's parliament created a new political movement on Saturday, three months after he was expelled from the Communist Party. Gennady Seleznyov said the Party of Russia's Revival stands for "the creation of a social state, the assertion of the principles of social justice, support for the proper level the military capability and security of the country, strengthening the external political role of Russia as one of the great powers," the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
Seleznyov said the new party would aim to represent the working people of Russia, and would seek to form a broad membership base.
About 600 delegates attended the party's founding meeting, including former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, ITAR-Tass said.
Seleznyov was voted out of the Communist Party in June after he ignored party leaders' urgings to step down from his post when the centrist majority stripped the communists of most of their leadership positions. The communists resigned the positions they still held to protest the move, and wanted him to do the same.
The Communist Party has been increasingly divided since losing its dominant position in parliament to centrists loyal to President Vladimir Putin ( news - web sites).
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