MOSCOW -- The opposition Russian Popular Democratic Union has announced that it will officially challenge the government to make changes in its policies.
Party leader and former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov told RFE/RL's Russian Service that the union will demand a change to the law on political parties and for a restoration of the previous law on elections that was changed in 2004.
He also said that all the directors of the federal television channels in Russia, as well as all federal judges, should be sacked.
Kasyanov says the government should resign and new parliamentary elections should be held.
Kasyanov adds that fair parliamentary elections would give the democratic opposition a chance to win 30 percent of the votes, which, he says, might lead to the creation of a coalition government.