Chakvetadze seeks place in Russian Parliament
Date published :
26 Sep 2011 - 18:35:35
Russia's 2007 US Open semi-finalist Anna Chakvetadze is to try her hand at politics as she is to stand for the Right Cause party in the upcoming elections for the country's lower house of parliament, the State Duma.
The 24-year-old, formerly ranked in the top five in the world and winner of eight WTA titles, has not played since Wimbledon because of poor health.
However, she faces an uphill task in the elections as the party is in disarray after billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov was ousted as their leader last week.
Chakvetadze, though, said she wanted to "try something new" and focus on women's rights and children's sports.
"I joined the Right Cause Party because it's a young party," she said.
"All of its members are young people, who have many fresh ideas.
"I believe I also can bring some fresh ideas into this project.
"I'd like to be involved in deciding the questions concerning the sports sphere in case we manage to enter the State Duma.
"I am especially interested in children's sports. I believe the state should support the children's sports activity, making it completely free of charge."
The Right Cause, a pro-business party in the country has little popular support with political pundits saying they have the support of only about two percent of the population.
