She commented on the possibility that SPS could unite with the Yabloko party. In her opinion, both parties need it. “If we don’t do it now, we will never do it,” Ms. Khakamada said. Speaking about the upcoming parliamentary election, she expressed confidence that the main goal of the SPS was to unite all democratic forces, “consolidate people, all those who defend freedom, private property rights, democracy and market economy”.

Ms. Khakamada believes that SPS might also cooperate with other democratic parties, apart from Yabloko. According to her, if the government is formed on a coalition basis in the future, coalition agreements with the United Russia party will be possible.

At the same time, Ms. Khakamada said her party would never unite with national-socialist parties. “We might sometimes hold a joint vote with the Communist Party, as we are in opposition to the authorities. But the unification is impossible, we have totally different ideologies,” she added.

In Ms. Khakamada’s estimation, SPS could garner about 8 percent of the vote in the parliamentary election. “This is 30-35 deputies, plus 40 people from single member constituencies,” she noted.

According to Ms. Khakamada, the main goal of SPS after the election will be “a reform of power”. “There’s no use doing anything if we either don’t make the government fully transparent, including only nine ministries subordinate to the President or other parties, or don’t change our Constitution and build a parliamentary state,” she stressed.

In the opinion of Ms. Khakama, it is very important to consolidate democratic forces in the country, attracting young people to this process and preparing for the 2007 election.

Another area that requires interference is the creation of a professional, volunteer army in Russia, Ms. Khakamada believes. She thinks it is also necessary to reduce the period of military service for draftees to 6 months.

When asked about the political orientation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ms. Khakamada said that in her view, the President was not a convinced liberal or democrat, as he was the representative of the past epoch. “But he certainly wants a market economy, although he trusts officials the most. This is a contradiction. I think, it will be possible to check whether he is closer to bureaucracy or a democratic society only after the 2004 presidential election, when there is no need for him to seek popularity, and he will finally be able to make a serious choice. And we will all understand what system he wants to build, whether it be a system modeled after Chili, China, Europe, or a specific Russian system. In other words, when we don’t just hear words but also see actions,” Ms. Khakamada said.