As for her own chances to take the lead in the SPS, Ms. Khakamada said she did not expect it. According to her, the party is not ready to support her, even if she was second to Vladimir Putin in the presidential elections. After the elections, Ms. Khakamada is going to take part in the creation of a new union of democratic forces in Russia. This union could include the members of the SPS, especially from Ms. Khakamada’s informal support group, which formed after the party’s congress, and also the members of the Yabloko party and other democratic forces.

According to Ms. Khakadama, 4.2m signatures were collected in her support as a candidate for President in 79 regions of Russia. Of them, 2.458m were submitted to the Central Election Commission of Russia on January 28. She thinks this is a very good result for such a short time as two weeks.

At the congress on January 24-25, the members of the SPS party accepted the resignation of the party’s four co-chairmen: Boris Nemtsov, Yegor Gaidar, Irina Khakamada and Anatoly Chubais. The congress decided that co-chairmanship was ineffective and a single leader should be elected instead. All four former co-chairmen of the SPS remained members of the party.

In the upcoming presidential elections, members of the SPS will be able to vote for any candidate they like. According to analysts, most of the party’s members will vote for the incumbent President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.