The conflict between Communists and patriots was triggered by the statement of the Communist Party’s Central Committee about a “crude interference” of the Executive Committee of the People’s Patriotic Union in the affairs of the Communist Party. However, according to Mr. Chekis, “the Executive Committee of the People’s Patriotic Union has never interfered with the activities of the Communist Party and its regional branches” and worked “solely with the collective participants and regional departments of the Union, in accordance with the regulations of the People’s Patriotic Union”. He said all decisions were made “collegially, by agreement with the Presidium of the Central Committee”. “The Executive Committee financed only the activities of the regional departments of the People’s Patriotic Union, including the members of the Union, and it had nothing to do with the financing of the Communist Party and its structural departments,” Mr. Chekis added.

To support his statement, he referred to his contacts with the representatives of the organizations-members of the People’s Patriotic Union. “The organizations-members of the People’s Patriotic Union are discussing the recent decision of the Presidium, which is not supported by the collective members of the Union,” he said. In the opinion of patriotic organizations, “in the absence of the meetings of the Coordination Council, which has not met for more than 10 months already (although it shall meet at least every three months, according to the regulations), the Executive Committee organized the work of the People’s Patriotic Union fairly. According to the Union’s regulations, it is the Executive Committee that is responsible for overall management of the movement in the periods between the meetings of the Coordination Council.”

According to Mr. Chekis, the organizations-members of the People’s Patriotic Union have already made a collective statement in which they “expressed confidence that Zyuganov won’t be able to paralyze the activity of patriotic movements”.