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Supreme
Court Begins Reviewing Election Annulment Case
MosNews, November 15, 2004
Sergei Ivanenko, who is the assistant head of Yabloko and a member
of the 2008 Free Choice Committee, thinks that this trial is crucial
for the future of Russia’s democracy. “The most important
thing is for this trial to be a normal and lawful legal trial,”
he said.
Russia's
dominant party dismisses opposition protest
AFP, September 28, 2004
Russia's muscular pro-Kremlin party struck back Tuesday at the enfeebled
opposition's bid to annul last year's parliamentary election results,
saying the move could only land it in more trouble.
Committee-2008
Challenges Election Results in the Supreme Court
RIA "Novosti", September 27, 2004
"We regard our lawsuit, not as a political statement, but as
a legal document," first deputy chairman of the Yabloko party
Sergei Ivanenko said.
Re-elections ahead
Kommersant, September 27, 2004
Opposition filed a lawsuit to the Supreme Court, challenging
the results of the last year's parliamentary elections
Liberals,
Communists dispute parliamentary election at Supreme Court
Gazeta.ru, September 27, 2004
The liberal party Yabloko and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation
(KPRF) have brought a suit to the Supreme Court against the Russian Central Election
Commission. They are contesting the results of the parliamentary elections in December
2003. The members of the liberal Committee 2008: Free Choice have also brought joined the
lawsuit.
Communists,
Yabloko File Suit Over Elections
By Anatoly Medetsky, St Peterburg Times, September 28, 2004
"If we win, it will no doubt be a colossal breakthrough in
terms of legality and fairness in conducting elections," Communist
Party lawyer Vadim Solovyov said by telephone Monday.
But Solovyov doubted the lawsuit would be successful. "I think
that our chances for success are less than 1 percent."
Yabloko
and the Communist party, challenge election results in court
ITAR TASS, September 27, 2004
The two parties said the Central Election Commission must be held
responsible for approving vote protocols ignoring violations in the
elections.
Highest
Court to Evaluate 2003 Duma Elections
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, September 27, 2004
Yabloko Deputy Chairman Sergei
Mitrokhin admitted that it is highly unlikely that the elections
will be invalidated, but said a judicial examination of the campaign
"will be very useful for making our election system more honest,
transparent, objective, and fair."
State
Duma election results to be questioned at Supreme Court
Interfax, September 13, 2004
"Lawyers of the Independent Election Institute, the Communist
Party and Yabloko drafted a lawsuit to be filed at the Russian Supreme
Court, and Committee 2008 sponsored the drafting. I think we will
file the lawsuit at the end of this week," Yabloko Deputy Chairman
Sergei Mitrokhin told
Interfax on Monday.
The
Duma Under Control
By Yana Serova, Novaya Gazeta, September 2, 2004
Amendments to electoral laws essentially mean a one-party
system in Russia
Suit
to Challenge Duma Elections
The Moscow Times, September 2, 2004
The liberal group Committee 2008: Free Choice is planning to file
a lawsuit next week with the Supreme Court over the results of last
year's parliamentary elections, which the group claims are invalid.
We
will have transparent elections some day
By Alexandra Samarina, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, September 1, 2004
The Committee-2008 appeals to the Supreme Court to cancel
the results of the 2003 Duma campaign. Liberals say they have got several
thousands of proofs that 2003 vote was not free.
Communists
And Liberals Challenge Duma Poll
RIA Novosti, August 31, 2004
"Our suit ushers in a legal dispute of political purport,"
says Sergei Ivanenko, YABLOKO first deputy president.
Liberals Want
Duma Elections Annulled
MosNews, August 31, 2004
The liberal 2008 Free Choice Committee is set to sue the authorities over
the 2003 parliamentary elections that the group says were invalid.
Grigory
Yavlinsky: the goal of boosting votes for United Russia to 40% and
probably of raising turnout, affected the results of the parliamentary
elections
Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky conducted by Denis Babichenko, Itogi, March 30, 2004
In my opinion, despite all our documented arguments,
the courts will reject everything and the people will only start to believe
that it was pointless seeking honesty at the elections.
Grigory
Yavlinsky: courts backed some of YABLOKO’s lawsuits on the State
Duma elections
Gazeta.ru, May 20, 2004
"...In a number of cases it was proved that we were right and
the courts admitted that serious and considerable violations had
been committed during the vote-counting,” said Yavlinsky.
He also noted that some of the lawsuits are still at trial stage
and that appeals are also being considered by courts in a number
of cases.
The Putin Model Is Doomed to Fail
By Andrei Piontkovsky
Wall Street Journall, March 15, 2004
Yesterday's Russian presidential election was another triumph for Vladimir Putin's brand of "managed democracy." The campaign and election followed the pattern of the parliamentary vote three months ago, which the OSCE characterized as "free, but unfair."
The Results of the Parliamentary Elections - 2003 Are Again Contested
YABLOKO piles the courts with void protocols
YABLOKO contests the results of the parliamentary elections in court
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, March 11, 2004
YABLOKO's applications for lawsuits with a demand for the annulment of the results of the Duma elections were received by 78 district and republican courts yesterday. Press Secretary of the YABLOKO party Sergei Loktionov explained to Nezavisimaya Gazeta that YABLOKO had claims against 170 out of the total 225 district electoral commissions.
YABLOKO Goes to Court seeking the annulment of the results of the State Duma elections
By Anastasya Matveyeva
Gazeta, March 11, 2004
The YABLOKO party challenged the official results of the December 7, 2003 parliamentary elections as soon as they were announced. YABLOKO also said that it would file lawsuits. Suits were filed with regional courts and the Supreme Court yesterday. YABLOKO cited a comparison of the data in 14,065 protocols from observers against the figures provided by the Central Electoral Commission.
YABLOKO rolls to courts
The party seeks to invalidate parliamentary elections in 170 constituencies
By Viktor Khamrayev
Kommersant, March 11, 2004
The liberal YABLOKO party filed a series of lawsuits demanding the invalidation of the results in December's State Duma elections in 170 out of Russia's 225 constituencies.
YABLOKO failed to gain the five percent of the vote required for parties to get party list representation in the Duma and had only three deputies elected from their constituencies.
YABLOKO challenges Duma election results in court
By Ilya Zhegulyov
Gazeta.ru, March 11, 2004
The liberal YABLOKO party has filed 78 lawsuits contesting the results of last December's State Duma elections. The party wants the results in 170 of Russia's 225 constituencies annulled after independent observers detected over 430,000 violations in the work of the regional election commissions.
Liberal leaders positive on Yabloko's court move
Gazeta.ru, March 10, 2004
Commenting on Yabloko's legal attempt to annul the results of last December's parliamentary elections, the party's leader Grigory Yavlinsky said he could not say anything about its prospects. "According to the data we have obtained, there were very serious and significant violations in the vote-counting and we think that this case will be taken seriously," he said.
Election Fraud
The Central Electoral Commission responds to Duma election complaints
By Orkhan Dzhemal, Novaya Gazeta, March 11, 2004
Three days from now, the presidential election will be over - and the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) is bound to receive numerous complaints of unfairness. Meanwhile, the CEC has only just completed investigating complaints received after the parliamentary elections.
The
YABLOKO party seeking annulment of the Duma election in 170 constituencies.
By Natalya Panshina, ITAR-TASS, March 10, 2004
Russian liberal party
Yabloko has filed lawsuits to revoke the results of the voting in last
December's parliamentary election in 170 constituencies out of the country's
total 225, Sergei Loktionov, Yabloko's press secretary said Wednesday.
Yabloko
files lawsuits concerning 2003 Duma elections.
ITAR-TASS, March 10, 2004
Alexander Veshnyakov, head of the Russian Central Electoral Commission,
told the Ekho Moskvy radio on Wednesday that theYabloko party didn't
stand a chance to win its lawsuits concerning the results of the
parliamentary elections in Russia if its accusations are based on
the same materials that the Russian Central Electoral Commission
studied earlier.
Putin's
Main Rival Is Apathy
By GUY CHAZAN, Wall Street Journal, March 11, 2004
Grigory
Yavlinsky, leader of the liberal Yabloko party, which suffered a crushing
defeat in December's Duma elections, says voting would mean supporting
the regime Mr. Putin has created -- "an authoritarian political system
where the press, secret services, elections, Parliament and business are
all controlled from one room."
Paper:
Tallies Get Changed
The Moscow Times, March 12, 2004
Three months ago, the Communists submitted a complaint accusing the
Central Elections Commission of certifying falsified results, saying their
vote tally from the notarized protocols gathered by party observers at
polling stations did not square with the declared results. Similar complaints
were raised by Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces, but all the complaints
were dismissed.
Russian
Human Rights Groups Decry Vote.
By Maria Danilova, Associated Press, March 10, 2004
The election "can be compared to a soccer game, which has no
goal, no ball and no field - just the score on the scoreboard, and
you are being invited to watch the score," said Grigory Yavlinsky,
leader of the liberal Yabloko party.
YABLOKO
Intends to Take Electoral Commissions to Courts The Party continues
its parallel count of the votes
By Ksenia Veretennikova, Vremya Novostei, February 27, 2004
"It
is obvious already now that the results of the elections were distorted,
and that YABLOKO was deprived of votes, while votes were added to United
Russia’s total," said Mitrokhin.
The
Central Electoral Commission: No Grounds for Doubting the Elections
Results
RIA "Novosti", February 25, 2004
Veshnyakov told journalists that the heads and members of the local
electoral commissions who neglected their duties and were careless
during the vote counting, "are no longer working there."
Elections
2003: Dead Souls Overcame the Five Per Cent Barrier. Over 3.5 million
false ballot papers were added
By Orkhan Dzhemal, Novaya Gazeta, January 29, 2004
On January 26, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe (PACE) delivered its verdict on Russia's parliamentary elections.
The verdict was as follows: "Free, but not fair."... It's not entirely clear what the PACE meant by saying the elections
were "free."
Free,
but Not Fair
By Olga Redichkina, Gazeta.ru, January 27, 2004
This is how Europe is expected to describe the elections in Russia.
State
Duma prefers misers
By Aliya Samigullina, Gazeta.ru, January 28, 2004
The Central Electoral Commission and the Bank of Russia have released
the financial results of the State Duma elections. It turned out
that the SPS, which failed to make it into the Duma, spent the most
on its electoral campaign.
Yabloko
Party to Appeal to Court over Violations in Parliamentary Elections
Trud, January 22, 2004
The
Communist party reportedly conducted a parallel vote-counting and announced
that both Yabloko and the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) parties had
overcome the necessary barrier (5%) and that two-thirds of the protocols
used in the election’s state automated system had no legal force.
Zyuganov
and Yavlinsky Will Meet in Court with United Russia
By Rustem Falyakhov and Denis Yermakov, Gazeta, January 22, 2004
Until the end of the week YABLOKO and the CPRF will sign an agreement
and begin work over an application to the Supreme Court. The parties
seek to secure a revision of the results of the parliamentary elections
held in December 2003.
Did
We All Vote So Amicably?
By Orkhan Jemal, Novaya Gazeta, January 19, 2004
At the end of last week representatives from the YABLOKO
Party confirmed that their party was ready to contest in court the results
of the [parliamentary] elections. Their vote recount, an alternative to
that of the Central Electoral Commission, demonstrated that in reality
YABLOKO obtained 6% and the SPS 5.12% of the votes.
YABLOKO
Party to Contest Parliamentary Election Results
RIA "OREANDA", January 19, 2004
In addition the party confirmed its intention not to announce
any candidate for the RF Presidential Elections planned for March 14,
2004.
YABLOKO
will contest the results of parliamentary elections
Grigory Yavlinsky's website, January 19, 2004
The YABLOKO party is going to contest in court the results of the
parliamentary elections which took place on December 7, 2003. The
party thinks that the public should be informed about incidents
of election fraud, and those responsible for the falsification of
the results of the elections should be punished.
Yabloko
Defiant in Wrap-up of December Vote Results
Rosbalt, January 18, 2003
Yabloko, the political party, has issued a stinging critique of
the Russian political system, a Rosbalt reporter was told by the
party's press service after a meeting of the party's national presidium
wound up very late Thursday night.
YABLOKO
says Duma elections were rigged, threatens to go to court
Gazeta.Ru, January 16, 2004
The liberal YABLOKO party intends to file a lawsuit in
connection with numerous violations committed at the recent State Duma
elections.
YABLOKO
will prove in court that "votes were stolen" at the parliamentary
elections
Gzt.Ru, January 16, 2004
"Within one or two months we shall finalise the work - the analysis
of protocols of electoral commissions - and shall accumulate an ample
critical mass of protocols to conduct the fight in court," said Ivanenko
on Ekho Moskvi radio station.
More
candidates appear
IA MiK, January 15, 2004
Chairman of Sverdlovsk regional branch of the Russian
Democratic Party YABLOKO Yuri Kuznetsov has proposed himself as candidate
for the [by-elections]of deputies of the State Duma in Verkh-Isetskiy
single-mandate electoral district No 162.
The
state comes first for Vladimir Putin
Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky by Claudia von Salzen, Tagesspiegel, January 12, 2004
All elements of society are concentrated
in the same hands which resemble the 1930s. This is a semi-Soviet system.
Yavlinsky
Fears Totalitarian Slide
Reuters, January 12, 2004
Yavlinsky, speaking Thursday evening, said Russia has effectively
reverted to a Soviet-style one-party parliament after the December
elections. The pro-Kremlin United Russia party controls two-thirds of
seats
in the State Duma, and Yavlinsky said the other three parties there were
indistinguishable from it on all major issues.
Grigory
Yavlinsky: A Western type of democracy will win in Russia in 20-25
years
By Igor Deyev, ITAR-TASS, January 9, 2004
Yavlinsky stressed that the views of his party on the variants of
economic and domestic political developments of the country "considerably
differ" from the point of view of the present Russian leadership
that "has been trying to create an inefficient system of state
capitalism."
Grigory
Yavlinsky: a Potyomkin village has been systematically built in
Russia.
Novaya Gazeta, December 25, 2003
The reason is that elections have ceased to be even relatively democratic
- honest, equal, or fair. With no judiciary independent from the
administration, no independent mass media, no independent sources
of funding, there cannot be real political competition - and that
is the essence of elections.
The
Kremlin gets loyal lawmakers and business gets reliable lobbyists
By Vitaly Ivanov, Vedomosti, December 30, 2003
It is hard to say now what the Kremlin was really aiming
to achieve when it sought absolute control over the Duma. Experts usually
list four factors as possible motives. Firstly...
In
Russia, Everything Is Just Getting Started
Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky, Vedomosti, December 29, 2003
...it turned out to be exceptionally difficult to demonstrate that
there is a difference between real democrats and those who only
call themselves democrats. For example, people think Boris Yeltsin
was the main democrat. And it's been impossible to explain that
he wasn't a democrat at all.
Grigory
Yavlinsky: You Cannot Raise Funds for the Campaign Without the Consent
of the Regime
By Mikhail Vinogradov, Izvestia, December 24, 2003
Grigory Yavlinsky
- leader of the Yabloko party, which is not represented in the new Duma
- will not take part in the presidential race. In this interview, the Yabloko
leader explains the reasons for his decision. Yavlinsky doesn't view this
as a disaster; he intends to try to preserve and strengthen his party,
looking ahead to the next elections.
Yabloko
won't take part in presidential elections
RosBusinessConsulting, December 22, 2003
The Yabloko party will not nominate its candidate for the presidential
elections in March 2004, because it believes that, in the present
political situation in Russia, fair and equal elections are impossible,
Grigory Yavlinsky, the leader of Yabloko, said after the party's
congress at the weekend.
YABLOKO
to boycott 2004 presidential elections
RIA "Novosti", December 21, 2003
"The party will not nominate a presidential candidate," Yavlinsky
reported after the Yabloko congress. Previously the Yabloko leader had
been nominated for the presidency three times.
YABLOKO
decides not to nominate any candidate for presidency
By Natalya Panshina, ITAR-TASS, December 21, 2003
Yavlinsky stressed that the party's main task for the next four years
would be the formation of "a large impressive democratic party"
which would operate outside the
legislature as "a democratic opposition".
Demoralised
Russian liberals boycott presidential race
AFP, December 21, 2003
The walkout by liberal forces is likely to be embarassing for Putin,
affecting the international legitimacy of the poll, but analysts say the
two small parties themselves will suffer the most from their political
exclusion.
Differences
in Arithmetic between the YABLOKO party and the Central Electoral
Commission
Interview with Galina Mikhalyova, Head of the Analytical Department of YABLOKO by Olga Kitova, Russkiy Kurier, December 19, 2003
In any case, we are already convinced that the count was not fair.
Communists
and Yabloko call into question the voting results.
ITAR-TASS, December 19, 2003
December 19 (Itar-Tass) - On Friday the Central
Electoral Commission of the Russian Federation officially summed up and
validated the results of the December 7th Duma elections.
Communist
Party Wants 11 Recounts
The Moscow Times, December 19, 2003
Communist officials said their alternative tally, based on voting
protocols taken from 93.1 percent of polling stations together with
Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces, revealed discrepancies in
dozens of polling stations.
The
United Russia as a Collective Putin of the Duma
By Pavel Voshchanov, Novaya Gazeta, December 18, 2003
The victorious centrists, who (for ideological considerations, of course)
cannot move a single step away from the Kremlin, suddenly threw up their
hands and cried out in grief: Oh dear, however did we end up with this
imbalance?! And they immediately set about planning to rebuild the right-wing
liberal movement in Russia.
Fair
game: Communists and YABLOKO question the parliamentary election
results
By Orkhan Dzhemal, Novaya Gazeta, December 18, 2003
Sergei Mitrokin,
one of Yabloko party's leaders, has stated that according to available
information, Yabloko did cross the 5% threshold in the Duma elections -
but the party's vote total was artificially lowered just enough to prevent
it from getting into the Duma.
3
Parties Consider Boycotting Election
By Simon Saradzhyan, The Moscow Times, December 18, 2003
Leaders of the liberal and communist opposition said Wednesday that
they may form a rather unusual alliance to boycott the March presidential
election, which incumbent President Vladimir Putin is widely expected
to win in a first round.
Democrats
Set To Hang Together
Mikhail Zadornov in an interview with Dmitry DOKUCHAEV, Moscow News,
December 18, 2003
Mr. Zadornov talks
about his partys dismal performance and the democrats strategy in the new
Duma
Young,
Educated and 'Against All'
By Anna Dolgov, The Moscow Times, December 18, 2003
In the vote for single-mandate candidates, where choice
in each district was limited to representatives of only a handful of parties
competing for State Duma seats, the vote "against all" was substantially
higher than in party-list balloting.
Tricks
of Vote-Fixing Trade
By Boris Kagarlitsky, The Moscow Times, December 18, 2003
But where the elections themselves
are concerned, Stalin's inspired principle remains in force: The important
thing is not how they vote but how we count.
Who
Is Mr. Putin: Successor or Reformer?
By Alexei Pankin, The Moscow Times, December 16, 2003
Television coverage of the election was not objective and the government
machine once more played its part, yet because the outcome was guaranteed
by Putin's popularity, this election was marred by far fewer excesses
than in years past.
YABLOKO
to determine the format of its participation in the presidential
elections on December 19-20
RIA "Novosti", December 16, 2003
Earlier, Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky spoke about the talks
with the Union of Right-Wing Forces on the nomination of a single
candidate. The presidential elections are scheduled for March 14.
Liberals
Got to Get Their Act Together
Editorial, The Moscow Times, December 15, 2003
The evidence is that a large section of the liberal-minded electorate
chose either not to vote at all or voted against all, because they were
so disillusioned or disgusted with the spinelessness and vacillation of
the two parties. The liberal electorate according to various estimates
is 15 percent to 20 percent.
New
or Old Russia?
By Andrew Kuchins, The Moscow Times, December 15, 2003
Nobody really expected that both of the real liberal democratic
parties, Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces, would fall short
of the 5 percent threshold needed for party representation in the
Duma. Similarly nobody really expected that the most nationalist
parties, LDPR and Rodina, would between them garner more than 20
percent of the vote.
Liberals
Face Tough Trade-Off in Duma
By Caroline McGregor and Oksana Yablokova, The Moscow Times, December 15, 2003
The seven deputies from the Union of Right Forces and
Yabloko know they have
to
fight for influence in a State Duma where they are massively outnumbered.
In
deciding which alliances are in their interest, they face a tough trade-off
between pragmatism and principles.
Sergei
Mitrokhin demands annulment of the voting results in the Babushinsky
electoral district of Moscow
Rosbalt, December 11, 2003
"After we received the signals on these multiple violations, the
commission began releasing information that Shirokov was the leader of
the election, noted Mitrokhin. - YABLOKO thinks that the results of the
election were falsified and should be annulled, and that a new vote should
be carried out."
Civil
Rights Advocates Rue Duma
By Irina Titova, St Peterburg Times, December 11, 2003
"If the election results were falsified - then we'll have to fight,"
Grigoryants said. "If not then we'll be facing
up to long and hard work with the souls of those people who've been
indifferent to what's going on."
A
Funeral For Russian Democracy
By Vladimir Kovalyev, St Peterburg Times, December 11, 2003
A big and, maybe the best part of the population, the intelligentsia,
young
free-minded people - literally
millions of Russian citizens supporting basic democratic values - were
thrown aside by a crowd of the blind
majority that was so easily "managed" and ready to do whatever
it was told
to do.
Communists
Say Vote Count 'a Scam'
By Anatoly Medetsky and Francesca Mereu, St Peterburg Times, December 11, 2003
"We can't accept the results of a vote that is 100 percent a scam.
We're
demanding a recount of the ballots
by hand," Zyuganov said at a news conference.
Communists
say Duma vote was rigged
Gazeta.ru, December 10, 2003
According to the results of the parallel count of votes carried out
by the Communist Party observers, approximately 1.5 per cent was stolen
from both YABLOKO and the Union of Right-Wing Forces. The Motherland bloc
also lost around 1 per cent during the relay of the results from the voting
to Moscow, although this loss wasn't as critical for Sergei Glazyev and
Dmitry Rogozin as it was for the liberals.
Communist
Party's calculations indicate that Yabloko actually entered the
State Duma
RIA "OREANDA", December 10, 2003
The simultaneous counting is still being carried on, but it is already
clear from the data that have been obtained that the Yabloko Party passed
the 5% threshold, collecting 5.7% of votes. The alternative figure indicating
voter participation also differs from the official figures.
Grigory
Yavlinsky on National-Socialism in Russia
RIA "OREANDA", December 10, 2003
"National socialism is a great overstatement. I do not think
that this could happen in the Russian Federation", Yavlinsky
stated at a press conference on 9 December 2003.
Grigory
Yavlinsky: the main task of YABLOKO is to keep the party
Press release, December 9, 2003
“In these circumstances YABLOKO’s main task should
be the preservation of the party, reflecting the interests of the millions
of the electorate who voted for our party at the elections,” said Yavlinsky
at a press conference on Tuesday, 9 December 2003.
Grigory
Yavlinsky thinks that national-socialism does not threaten Russia
Press release, December 9, 2003
At the same time Yavlinsky admitted that there was a danger of nationalism
in Russia. “What is more, the danger of nationalism exists in many
European countries and in many other countries of the world,” said
YABLOKO’s leader.
Grigory
Yavlinsky thinks that political technologists played a negative
role in the election campaign
Press release, December 9, 2003
"Political technologists put the country into a historically embarrassing
situation. The development of democracy involves specific processes as does
its curbing; and everyone promoting the second process should remember:
you cannot reverse the milking of a cow," said Yavlinsky at a press
conference on Tuesday, 9 December 2003.
Absence
of the Union of Right-Wing Forces and YABLOKO from State Duma toAffect
the Economic Reforms
RIA "OREANDA", December 9, 2003
The absence of representatives from the Union of Right-Wing
Forces and the YABLOKO party will have an ambiguous impact on the economic
reforms of the country.
Communists
Accuse United Russia of Counterfeiting the Parliamentary Poll
RIA "OREANDA", December 9, 2003
The Russian
Communist Party (KPRF) accuses United Russia bloc of counterfeiting the
parliamentary poll regarding the "Yabloko" bloc and the Union
of Right-Wing Forces (SPS).
YABLOKO
Doubts Duma Poll returns
RIA "Novosti", December 9, 2003
Yavlinsky criticised the pre-election campaign. "The ruling party
had sixteen times more air time on the television than YABLOKO,"
he pointed out.
Why
Liberals Did Not Lose The Elections
By Yulia Latynina, Moscow Times, December 10, 2003
For huge numbers of Russians, however, democracy remains a prized ideal.
The "none of the above" party took 4.8 percent of the vote on
Sunday, and
it was supported by democrats. Voters in favor of a strong hand and Holy
Rus had plenty of parties to choose from. The democrats had no choice
whatsoever.
Yavlinsky
Doggedly Promises to Soldier On
By Oksana Yablokova, Moscow Times, December 10, 2003
"We will have to build a party that will be able to work outside
parliament," Yavlinsky said. "That will be quite a difficult
and unusual
thing to do."
Putin
Revels in Election; Others See Flaws
By Steven Lee Myers, NYTimes, December 9, 2003
"We now have, again, a one-party Parliament," said Mr. Yavlinsky,
who leads Yabloko and has been the public face of Russia's democrats for
the last decade. "Russia has had no such Parliament since Brezhnev."
Veteran
Russian liberal says election was rigged
By Andrei Shukshin, Reuters, December 9, 2003
The leader of Russia's liberal Yabloko party Grigory Yavlinsky accused
the Kremlin on Tuesday of rigging the results of last week's parliament
vote but said no legal action would ever succeed in the country's
courts.
Results
of elections in the CIS and foreign countries
ITAR-TASS, December 8, 2003
MOSCOW. Four or five candidates running in one-seat constituencies
from the Union of Right-Wing Forces and YABLOKO will get seats in
the new Duma. YABLOKO leader Grigory Yavlinsky did not run in a
one-seat constituency and his colleague Vladimir Lukin, who was
deputy speaker in the previous Duma, lost in the elections. YABLOKO
candidates who were elected are Sergei Popov, Mikhail Zadoronov,
Galina Khovanskaya and Mikhail Yemelyanov.
Chubais
predicts dark times
By Ilya Zhegulev, gazeta.ru, December 8, 2003
An alliance with YABLOKO still remains one of the priority tasks
on the SPS agenda, Chubais said. However, the YABLOKO leader Grigory
Yavlinsky on Sunday evening again ruled out any form of alliance
with the SPS.
Only
three Yabloko members win Duma seats
Interfax, December 8, 2003
Only three members of Yabloko have managed to enter the State Duma
after winning single-mandate districts in yesterday's elections,
said Yevgenia Dillendorf, press secretary for Yabloko leader Grigory
Yavlinsky
Alternative
vote count: YABLOKO and SPS make it into the Duma
By Asya Ryazanova, Utro.ru, December 8, 2003
So the data from the CPRF (on the party web-site during the whole post-election
night) demonstrate a picture which somewhat differs from that provided
by the Central Electoral Commission, slightly, and not in the CPRF part,
as one could presume, but in the part of YABLOKO and SPS. According to
independent observers, these two parties obtained more than the required
five per cent by at least 0.5 per cent. This is a small thing, but this
changed the division of forces in the lower chamber of the Russian parliament
in principle. How do you like this?
Putin's
Victory
By Vitaly Ivanov, Svetlana Ivanova and Alexander Bekker, Vedomosti, December 9, 2003
Yesterday, YABLOKO leader Grigory Yavlinsky looked very confident.
He didn't miss any opportunity to say that YABLOKO "is ready
to take responsibility for democratic forces in the new Duma."
United
Russia, Rodina, YABLOKO preferred by voters in Moscow
ITAR-TASS, December 8, 2003
The following are the
results of the elections to the State Duma in Moscow after 95 percent of
the ballot papers were counted.
Putin
Calls Elections Fair Despite Observers' Criticism
By Steven Lee Myers, NYTimes, December 8, 2003
Two groups that sent election observers, the Council of Europe and the
Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, said in a report that
the results also reflected "the extensive use of the state apparatus
and media favoritism to benefit the largest pro-presidential party."
Gorbachev
warns Russia's leaders against "Soviet Communist-type situation"
AFP, December 8, 2003
The former Communist leader attributed United Russia's success to "a
certain tendency to the consolidation of society" and to "the
enormous role
of the use of administrative levers."
Denunciation
swift, celebration muted after Russian poll
AFP, December 8, 2003
"The administration has greatly affected the election's outcome,"
agreed liberal Yabloko leader party leader Grigory Yavlinsky.
TABLE-Russian
election results at 1200 GMT
Reuters, December 8, 2003
A party needs to get at least five percent of the vote to win seats
in the
Duma. Votes won by parties that fail to cross the threshold are divided
between the winners.
Complaints
of Fraud And Ballot Stuffing
By Catherine Belton and Timur Aliev, The Moscow Times, December 8, 2003
"At this polling station only 200 people voted, or about 10 percent,"
said Ruslan Khadashev, an observer for single-mandate independent candidate
Salambek Maigov. "I don't know where they got 70 percent from."
Singular
TV Diet on Election Day
By Anna Dolgov, The Moscow Times, December 8, 2003
Judging by the two channels' coverage, a viewer unfamiliar with Russian
politics might not even be aware that other parties, such as liberal opposition
Yabloko and the pro-reform Union of Right Forces, or SPS, were running
in the election.
United
Russia Grabs a Gigantic Lead
By Caroline McGregor, The Moscow Times, December 8, 2003
If United Russia's striking margin of victory was the top story
of the day, the strength of two nationalist parties, Liberal Democratic
Party of Russia and Homeland, was the second. The weakness of the
liberals, the Union of Right Forces and Yabloko, was the third.
Russian
Politics: "No News Is Good News"
Grigory Yavlinsky, head of the opposition Yabloko
Party, Business Week, December 8, 2003
It's certainly
necessary to do a lot of positive things, but they can't be done at the
moment. They can be done only after the Presidential election -- if the
President is prepared to move in this direction.
United
Russia Party has aclear lead after 7.59 per cent of the votes are
counted.
ITAR-TASS, December 7, 2003
Central Electoral Commission officials said at the same time the
progress of vote counting from the Far East towards the European regions
of
Russia revealed a growing percentage of the ballots cast against all
candidates.
YABLOKO:
The Central Electioral Commission did OK in the pre-election campaign.
RIA "Novosti", December 7, 2003
The
Central Election Commission was, on the whole, a success with preparing
grounds for pre-election campaigning and the actual campaign, says the
democratic political party, YABLOKO.
Veteran
Russian liberal says election was rigged
By Natalya Panshina, ITAR-TASS, December 5, 2003
Russia's right-wing
parties, the SPS and
Yabloko and the Communist Party have agreed to jointly monitor progress
in
the voting when Russia on Sunday, December 7 will be electing the lower
house of parliament.
Television
Newscasts Give Kremlin a Boost
By Anna Dolgov, The Moscow Times, December 5, 2003
President Vladimir Putin has said on a number of occasions that he would
like to see United Russia win the Duma elections, and praised the party
again in a lengthy interview that aired on all three main channels last
Friday.
All-Out
Battle for Presidency in Ufa
By Alex Fak, The Moscow Times, December 5, 2003
"Putin does not care what happens here," said Eduard Khusnutdinov,
a former opposition journalist and a Duma candidate with Yabloko.
Why
Duma Elections Do Matter
Editorial, The Moscow Times, December 5, 2003
An overwhelming victory for United Russia (with a roughly commensurate
drop in the Communist vote) would be taken by the Kremlin as complete
legitimization of its actions over the past four years.
Yabloko,
SPS, Communists Team Up
The Moscow Times, December 4, 2003
"Authoritarian tendencies are growing stronger in the country.
An analysis
of the election campaign shows that equal opportunities are not being
provided to all candidates," the parties said in a statement.
Almost
22% of Russian Citizens Hesitate over Choice of Political Party
during Forthcoming Elections
RIA "Oreanda", November 28, 2003
According to the Social Opinion Fund, this information was obtained from a poll of the population in 200 cities in 63 Russian regions.
Stop
Elbowing!
By Georgy Ilyichev, Izvestia, November 28, 2003
Galina Mikhalyova, head
of YABLOKO's analytical center, couldn't restrain herself: "It is
strange to be forced to tell this audience, for the 225th time, that the
SPS and YABLOKO are different parties, with different voters and different
positions.
St.
Petersburg Governor and YABLOKO Will Fight Corruption Together
By Yelena Rotkevich, Izvestia, November 28, 2003
Yavlinsky held several meetings in St. Petersburg
on November 26; his conversation with Matviyenko lasted one-and-a-half hours rather than the scheduled 30 minutes, focusing primarily on cooperation
between the party and the new municipal administration, as well as joint
efforts to "overcome the bane of corruption" which has taken
shape in St. Petersburg in recent years.
Russian
election video for Yabloko
BBC Monitoring, ORT Channel, November 26, 2003
"...I said: Yes, Vladimir
Vladimirovich [Putin], about 90 per cent of Russian voters vote for you
- it is true - and only 10 per cent for me. But these 10 per cent are
so valuable that without them your 90 per cent will not be able to do
anything."
Russia's
gloomy lawmakers admit decade of Kremlin domination
AFP, December 3, 2003
Arbatov said he had few doubts that Putin's aides were orchestrating
the
election's results and brushed aside suggestions that Russia has made
major
progress toward a Western-style democracy since the Soviet Union's collapse
in 1991.
Yukos
Takes a Bite Out of Yabloko's Party List
By Francesca Mereu, The Moscow Times, December 3, 2003
Yabloko, like the Communist Party, has a stable core of support.
The bulk of its electorate is composed of well-educated people who
believe in democracy and a market economy but have been left behind
by the changes of the past decade.
From
High Drama To Rubber Stamping
By Anna Dolgov, The Moscow Times, December 3, 2003
"It is clear to everybody that the Duma is controlled by the Kremlin,"
said Nikolai Petrov, a domestic politics analyst at the Carnegie Moscow
Center.
The
Parties to Keep an Eye On
The Moscow Times, December 2, 2003
These lists represent the nine parties that have the best chance of securing seats in the next State Duma.
Putin
Rivals, Observers Charge Election Tactics Are Unfair
By Gregory L. White, Wall Street Journal, December 2, 2003
The Kremlin is pushing hard to boost its support in the lower house
of parliament. Government officials insist the push is aimed at
easing the passage of President Vladimir Putin's program of economic
and other overhauls
Liberal
Candidates Suffer "Administrative" Pressures
By Vladimir Kovalev, St. Petersburg Times, December 2, 2003
Irina Khakamada, Union of Right Forces co-leader and a candidate
in the St. Petersburg electoral district No. 209, and Anatoly Golov,
Yabloko's candidate in the No. 210 district, on Monday complained
they face serious administrative pressure in the election campaign.
The
Elections and the Great Schism
By Stanislav Belkovsky, The Moscow Times, December 2, 2003
As election day approaches and media attention grows, it is becoming
increasingly apparent that the State Duma elections are a political
non-event. Why?
Deputies
Pass Raft of Bills on Duma's Last Day
By Anna Dolgov, The Moscow Times, December 1, 2003
In the chamber, which emptied through the day as deputies left to
go on the campaign stump, a handful of opposition lawmakers were
drowned out by a chorus of self-congratulation from pro-Kremlin
lawmakers.
Yavlinsky
Slams Kremlin Stance
By Irina Titova, St.Petersburg Times, November 28, 2003
"The government should be interested in having an independent
legislative
organ," he said. "Otherwise, it
will lead to weakening of the Russian power."
Internet
Resources in English
Editor: Henry E. Hale, RUSSIAN ELECTION WATCH, Vol.3, No.2, November 2003
While
most parties have little or no information in English, Yabloko regularly
translates party documents and press releases as well as campaign-related
news stories it considers of interest to readers.
Communists
pull out of "Fair Election" agreement
RosBusinessConsulting, November 28, 2003
The Communist Party of the Russian Federation is pulling out of
the "Fair Election" agreement, which was signed in August
by all political parties and blocs taking part in the election campaign
(except the Yabloko party), Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov told
reporters.
Russia
Pro - Government Party Seen Gaining
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, NYTimes, November 27, 2003
Grigory Yavlinsky, who
heads the liberal Yabloko party, warned in St. Petersburg that the government
is trying to create "a tamed Duma with an obedient majority.
Pro-Kremlin
Russian party boosts lead before vote
Reuters, November 25, 2003
The poll of 6,000 people in three Russian cities by the state-run
VTsIOM agency put United Russia in the lead with 32.7 percent, ahead
of the Communist Party on 14.3 percent. The elections are to be
held on December 7.
The
Triumph of United Russia: It wins a pseudo-election
By Vitaly Voronin and Anfisa Voronina, Vedomosti, November 25, 2003
Grigory Yavlinsky, who
heads the liberal Yabloko party, warned in St. Petersburg that the government
is trying to create "a tamed Duma with an obedient majority.
The
Union of Right-Wing Forces Splitting Over YABLOKO
By Yaroslav Rodionov, Noviye Izvestia, November 24, 2003
...it appears that Chubais completely gave up on any idea of
a union - and is now revising SPS strategy towards confrontation with
YABLOKO. However, Nemtsov and Khakamada take the opposite view.
Brain
Navigators
By Irina Nagornykh, Suzanna Farizova and Yuri Chernega, Kommersant-Vlast, November 17, 2003
According to Ivanenko,
it is more difficult to carry out an election campaign for YABLOKO than
for others, primarily owing to a lack of funding.
Zhirinovsky
Gets Into Fistfight After Televised Election Debate
The Moscow Times, November 24, 2003
Tensions rose on NTV's the "Freedom of Speech" talk show when
Zhirinovsky, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, accused retired
General Gennady Shpak of the leftist Homeland party of sending his own
son to his death by allowing him to fight in Chechnya.
"Russian
economic miracle. Will it ever happen?"
Anchor: Savvik Shuster, NTV channel, "Freedom of Speech" programme, November 21, 2003
Yavlinsky says Russia's
people need a "strong state that serves its citizens" rather
than the state based on "bandit capitalism" they have at present
with no independent judiciary or legislature and no free media.
Russia's
democrats fall from influence
By Susan B. Glasser, Washington Post, November 19, 2003
Parliament
would be left dominated by a pro-government party whose only campaign
pledge
is to stick close to President Vladimir Putin and a Communist Party consumed
by nostalgia for the Soviet Union.
Russian
politicians seek Zhirinovsky ban after brawl
By Andrei Shukshin, Reuters, November 23, 2003
"Decent people feel nothing but loathing and disgust for all this,"
Nemtsov, who had a glass of orange juice tossed in his face by Zhirinovsky
in a mid-1990s debate, told Ekho Moskvy.
Tricks,
Lies and Zyuganov's Head on a Bust
By Kevin O'Flynn, The Moscow Times, November 12, 2003
They're off. Four days into the official State Duma election
season, the
first low blow has been thrown in a campaign predicted to be chock-full
of
dirty tricks, fake candidates, bribery, blackmail, misinformation, lies
and
insults.
Funny
Elections, Kremlin uses "administrative resource"
By Stanislav Menshikov, Moscow Tribune, November 21, 2003
Russian "democracy" has invented a new term to define
an ancient practice. The term is "administrative resource"
and it means using the government machine and its financial resources
at all levels to gain advantage over the opposition in formally
free elections.
Political
Scientists Gather at Round Table at the Open Forum
Valery Kazakov and Sergei Zalesski, Argumenty i Fakty, November 19, 2003
Depending on the results of the Duma elections,
a structure of the parliament will be formed that the president will have
to deal with and that will serve as the basis for his policy", claims
Ivanenko.
Who
Devised the SPS "military doctrine"?
By Orkhan Dzemal, Novaya Gazeta, November 17, 2003
"...On the other hand, I do not rule out the possibility that
some third force may be involved. We will see after the election
who got whose votes."
Russian
journalists to list would-be MPs according to their stance on media
freedom
Rossiyskaya Gazeta, November 12, 2003
A long-forgotten word from the Soviet era was revived
yesterday: nakaz or "wish list".
Sergei
Mitrokhin accused RAO "UES of Russia" of financing the SPS and intending
to embroil the SPS and YABLOKO.
Rosbalt, November 4, 2003
According to Mitrokhin, fake candidates, former activists of "Yabloko
Without Yavlinsky" movement are standing against YABLOKO in
single-mandate electoral districts.
Russia's
Democrats Face Prospect of Irrelevance
By Susan B. Glasser, Washington Post, November 14, 2003
A decade ago, Yavlinsky founded Yabloko as a vehicle meant to place
the young economist in the presidency, with backing from the coalition
of former dissidents, liberal intellectuals and other activists
who had helped spur the Soviet collapse.
SPS
Attacks on YABLOKO attributed to Election Campaign
RIA-Novosti, November 13, 2003
"We shall continue cooperating with the SPS, for instance,
we have appointed single-mandate candidates and engaged in active
cooperation in the State Duma of this convocation and hope to continue
it in the next State Duma," Ivanenko said.
Wealth:
wild card in Russian election
By Fred Weir, Christian Science Monitor, November 13, 2003
"Previously
hidden conflicts have emerged into the open, and now there is a real issue
to fight the election on: Will Russia slide back into a police state or
turn decisively toward the European model of democracy and human rights."
Radio
Mayak broadcast of a live election debate between Yabloko and the
Constitutional Democrats
Anchor: Yuli Semyonov, BBC Monitoring, November 11, 2003
Ivanenko said
that people should be more alert to what the parties actually do rather
than listen to their promises.
Russia
Enters Election Season Split Over Future of Capitalism
By Peter Baker, Washington Post, November 8, 2003
On the anniversary of the 1917 Bolshevik
Revolution, Russia formally opened its parliamentary election season Friday
amid a vigorous debate about the future of capitalism in this country in
transition.
Elite
Change, Status Quo Unchanged
By Andrei Ryabov, The Moscow Times, November 6, 2003
The arrest of Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky has hastened
serious changes in the balance of power within the Russian political establishment
-- perhaps the most profound changes since Vladimir Putin became president.
Chubais
Offers Yavlinsky a Merger
By Oksana Yablokova, The Moscow Times, November 6, 2003
"Both you and I see Russia's return to dictatorship as a catastrophe.
This is the most weighty reason for the unification," the letter
read.
Responsible
for the Constitution
Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky by Alexander Goltz, Yezhenedelnyi Zhurnal, November 4, 2003
"This is my country. I didn't choose where or when to be born.
But since I'm here, I have to get as much done as I can. Then other
people will come along to continue the work."
United
Russia Party top election fund-raiser
RIA "OREANDA", November 3, 2003
The aggregate sum of election funds of parties and coalitions participating
in the State Duma election amounts to 902,129,290.00 rubles, - Central
Election Committee Chairman Alexander Veshnyakov said at a press
conference on Friday.
Putin's
political rating remains high - poll
Interfax, November 2, 2003
VTSIOM-A polled 1,600 people in 40 regions and 100 populated areas
on its own initiative from October 24 to 28.
Court
Frees Up Election Coverage
By Caroline McGregor, The Moscow Times, October 31, 2003
The Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled as unconstitutional one
part of the law that restricts media coverage of election campaigns,
and in doing so, gave journalists more room to do their jobs, critics
of the law said.
Parties'
Spending
The Moscow Times, October 30, 2003
Russian parties that will be competing
in the upcoming State Duma elections are running out of their official
campaign funds, Interfax quoted Central Elections Commission officials
as saying.
Putin
looks to Duma to tighten his grip
By Alexander Bim and Kim Iskyan, International Herald Tribune, October
29, 2003
If strong lobbyist factions - primarily those supported by some
of Russia's oligarchs - carve out a voice for themselves, the Kremlin
will have a much more difficult time managing the Duma. A strong
showing by the liberal Yabloko faction (which has received financial
support from Khodorkovsky) could interfere with the Kremlin's plans.
How
to Make People Vote with Their Hearts
By Orkhan Djemal, Novaya Gazeta, October 23, 2003
German researcher Elizabet Noel-Neuman has described a phenomenon she
called "the spiral of silence." On controversial issues, people
tend to fall in with majority views rather than working out an opinion
of their own; they are even less inclined to side with minority opinions.
YABLOKO
Says Its Campaign Has Been Hobbled
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, October 24, 2003
After the search, Yabloko party leader Grigory Yavlinsky said officials
in the prosecutor's office were "warned" that they were
taking away documents belonging to Yabloko
Crackdown
on YUKOS Spills over into Duma Campaign
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, October 24, 2003
Investigators from the Prosecutor-General's Office and
the Federal Security
Service (FSB) on 23 October conducted a raid of the offices of a
public-relations firm that is doing campaign work for the Yabloko party,
Russian media reported.
PR
agency searched in YUKOS probe
Gazeta.ru, October 24, 2003
"The Prosecutor-General's Office and the Federal Security Service
have confiscated documents and electronic information media, linked
to the election campaign and owned by the Yabloko party." This
comes from a statement issued by the party leader Grigory Yavlinsky.
The document notes that the agency was carrying out political consultative
work for the Yabloko election campaign.
Yukos
Probe Spills Over to Yabloko
By Catherine Belton and Alex Nicholson, The Moscow Times, October
24, 2003
The relentless tax investigation into Yukos veered openly into politics
for the first time Thursday as prosecutors raided a public relations
agency hired by the Yukos-funded liberal Yabloko party, detaining
two of the party's deputies and confiscating five computer servers.
Prosecutors
search company in Yukos probe
The Associated Press, October 23, 2003
The criminal probe into Yukos is seen in Russia as a
politically motivated warning to
chief executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky, identified by
Forbes magazine as Russia's richest
man, to stay out of politics. Khodorkovsky has openly
supported parties in opposition
to the Kremlin and has denounced the probe.
Prosecutors
search Yabloko campaigner's office for YUKOS evidence
Gazeta.ru, October 23, 2003
The Prosecutor General's Office on Thursday searched the
office of the
Yabloko party's campaigner, the Agency for Strategic Communications (ASK).
For
Whom the Election Bell Tolls
By Nikolai Petrov, The Moscow Times, October 23, 2003
With "managed democracy" on the rise, the authorities
are not so concerned about election results as they are about presenting
a facade of decorum.
A
Dozen Parties Face Being Left Out
By Caroline McGregor, The Moscow Times, October 22, 2003
A party that fails to get its federal list registered can try to
win single-mandate seats -- if its candidates are registered by
Wednesday evening. If 12 or more of a party's members get elected,
they can form a faction in the new Duma, saving the group from political
extinction.
Constitutional
Court To Decide Freedom of Speech Issue
By Dmitry Chirkin, pravda.ru, October 17, 2003
The founder of scientific socialism used to say: "History
repeats itself twice: first as a tragedy, and then as farce." For
the sixth or 56th time, history repeats itself as unbelievable marasm.
Live
TV debates cause first election scuffle
By Ksenia Solyanskaya, Gazeta.ru, October 17, 2003
On Friday, the State Duma’s deputies are to review the draft
address to the management of two leading state-run television networks,
Channel One, and Rossia, with the request to broadcast election
debates live.
Plans
for Debates Set Off a Debate
By Caroline McGregor, The Moscow Times, October 17, 2003
Two days after the country's top two national television stations
let it be understood that they would broadcast taped versions of
the upcoming State Duma election debates, they backpedaled Thursday.
Russia:
Constitutional Court Hears First Cases On Controversial New Media
Law
By Sophie Lambroschini, Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe, October 15, 2003
In a surprise decision, Russia's Constitutional Court has agreed to hear
four different appeals against the new legislation brought by three journalists
and more than 100 State Duma deputies.
YABLOKO
Is Ripe for the Elections
By Artyom Vernidub, Gazeta.ru, October 9, 2003
"Informally members of the Central Electoral Commission
praised us for the high quality and rapid collection of signatures, said
Mitrokhin. - This is the best answer to all those who have tried to show
that our party allegedly had problems with its regional branches."
Average
popularity figures for Russian political parties
By Alexander Braterski, Izvestia, October 9, 2003
According to the NAPP, if the Duma elections had been held in September,
the United Russia party would have won the most seats (185), followed
by the CPRF (135 seats). YABLOKO and the LDPR would have won 21 seats
each. The SPS would have won 22 seats. Other parties and independent candidates
would have won 66 seats in single-mandate districts. Based on September
polls, voter turnout would have been 69.2%.
Stick
Without a Carrot
By Daria Gusyeva and Maksim Balutenko, Vremya Novostei, October 2, 2003
The Monitoring Council for the election campaign is not
functioning yet, but some political parties are on the verge of recalling
their representatives from this structure.
Russian
media warned under strict new law
By Nick Paton Walsh, The Guardian (UK), October 2, 2003
The weekly magazines Kommersant Vlast and Tverskaya 13 were both served
with warnings this week after they published articles about the Moscow
mayoral election.
The
Central Electoral Commission considers the operations of the "Yabloko
Without Yavlinsky" movement unlawful
Buro Pravovoi Informatsii, September 29, 2003
On Sunday the
meeting of the Central Electoral Commission adopted a decision to agree
with the conclusions of the working group and request that the Interior
Ministry of the RF and the General Office of the Public Prosecutor abolish
the operations of the "Yabloko Without Yavlinsky" movement and
make a number of its activists answerable for their actions.
The
Central Electoral Commission recognised the "Yabloko Without Yavlinsky"
movement as unlawful election propaganda
Rosbalt, September 29, 2003
The Head of the Central Electoral Commission
Alexander Veshnyakov said that mass media should consider the illegality
of the operations of the "Yabloko Without Yavlinsky" movement,
when reporting on its activities.
Grigory
Yavlinsky: Russian politics is deliberately being transformed into
a farce
Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky by Tatyana Chesnokova, Rosbalt, September 25, 2003
"This situation has been deliberately created to make less
and less people engage actively in politics and lead more and more
of the population to readily accept decision-making on their behalf
by third parties".
Sergei
Mitrokhin: "We treat the use of administrative resource as
a natural disaster."
IA Marketing i Consulting, September 22, 2003
Interview with deputy of the State Duma, Deputy Head of the YABLOKO faction Sergei Mitrokhin about the position of the YABLOKO party regarding President Putin's attendance of the United Russian congress.
The
Political Council of the SPS should revise its decision on the division
of electoral districts between SPS and YABLOKO
Alliance Media, September 22, 2003
"We don't think it is proper to fight against the SPS in single-mandate
districts," stressed Yavlinsky.
United
Russia Conquers the Air
By Anna Dolgov, The Moscow Times, September 24, 2003
The pro-Kremlin United Russia party is getting by far the widest
and most favorable coverage on all the major television channels
ahead of parliamentary elections, monitoring conducted by The Moscow
Times over the past week indicates.
100
Deputies Challenge Media Restrictions
By Francesca Mereu, The Moscow Times, September 24, 2003
"We think that they are against the Russian Constitution, which
guarantees freedom in spreading information," deputy SPS leader
Alexander Barannikov said Tuesday.
Can
Media Cover the Elections?
Editorial, The Moscow Times, September 12, 2003
Presumably, the Kremlin did not shepherd the new legislation
through parliament in order for it to trip up the president or silence
two of the Kremlin's most important propaganda organs.
MPs
contest new media laws on election coverage
By Fyodor Rumyantsev, Gazeta.ru, September 23, 2003
The Union of Right-Wing Forces has collected signatures
from Yabloko, the Communists and Vladimir Zhirinovsky's party in support
of a complaint to the Constitutional Court, where they have asked the court
to look into certain provisions of the law on media coverage during election
campaigns, claiming they run counter to the Constitution.
Putin
welcomes parties to be part of new Russian State Duma
ITAR-TASS, September 21, 2003
On Saturday 20 September when speaking to foreign media Putin stressed
that he would like both the Union of Right-Wing Forces and Yabloko
be part of the new Duma, as they have carried out positive work
for the lower chamber of the Russian parliament.
What
Women Want: A Seat in the Duma
By Francesca Mereu, The Moscow Times, September 17, 2003
In fact, the percentage of women deputies has been steadily falling.
Fourteen percent of deputies in the 1993 Duma were women, but this figure
shrank to 10 percent in 1995 and just 8 percent in 1999.
'Meet
the press' in Russia meets the new censor
By Fred Weir, Christian Science Monitor, September 16, 2003
It smacks strongly of Soviet times - except that today's censors are
not
Communist Party hacks planted in editorial offices, but the managers of
media outlets themselves.
Formation
of electoral political alliances over in Russia
By Natalia Panshina, ITAR-TASS, September 15, 2003
The formation of political
alliances for the December Duma elections, which took almost two weeks
since the beginning of the current electoral campaign, is now over.
Another
Provocation
Marketing and Consulting, September 11, 2003
Asked to comment, the Press Service of YABLOKO told us that the party
had nothing to do with "Yabloko Without Yavlinsky" or moreover
with such a publication.
Parties
Still Hopeful
Associated Press, September 10, 2003
Russia's two leading liberal parties may still agree to coordinate
their campaigns for the December parliamentary elections despite
the collapse of cooperation talks, their leaders said Wednesday.
Putin
puts 'Soviet' bar on poll coverage
Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow, Guardian Unlimited, September 9, 2003
The Kremlin has introduced a draconian election law which
threatens the media with closure if they give details of candidates' personal
lives or analyse their policies.
Chubais
Ready to Lead SPS Into Battle
By Francesca Mereu and Oksana Yablokova, The Moscow Times, September
9, 2003
"We are the people who get things done," Chubais said,
drawing a standing ovation from the SPS delegates.
Party
congresses highlight divisions and cohesion
By Yelena Rudneva and Boris Sapozhnikov, gazeta.ru, September 8, 2003
At the congress held on September 6-7 Yabloko endorsed its electoral
programme, which contains 11 provisions and harshly criticizes the existing
regime and approved the party's electoral list.
Prosecutor
General answers Sergei Mitrokhin
Polit.ru, September 3, 2003
As evidence Mitrokhin demonstrated materials that
came from the regions proving that RAO UES was behind the "Yabloko
without Yavlinsky" activities.
Regional
prosecutors will investigate the actions of the "Yabloko without
Yavlinsky" organisation
Rosbalt, September 2, 2003
YABLOKO's press service informed Rosbalt correspondent
that the request referred to "dissemination by the leader of "Yabloko
without Yavlinsky" movement and some media information defaming the
leadership of the YABLOKO party."
"We'll
arrange the trial of the century for RAO UES"
By Boris Sapozhnikov, gazeta.ru, September 2, 2003
"I cannot believe that Nemtsov and Khakamada know nothing of
PR-campaigns that require such huge expenses, worthy of being included
in the Guinness Book of Records."
Ambitious
Kokh sets sights on parliament
By Yelena Rudneva, gazeta.ru, September 2, 2003
"He has grown to miss politics
very much," sources in SPS explained to Gazeta.Ru.
The
11th Congress of the Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO will take
place on September 6-7, 2003 in Moscow.
ABN, September 1, 2003
Chairman of the Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO Grigory
Yavlinsky and other leaders of the party will make political
reports at the Congress.
Honest
Elections in Russia: Myth or Reality?
RIA Novosti, August 28, 2003
The democratic party YABLOKO is the only party which openly refused
to sign the declaration.
As
the Duma election campaign begins, two non-Kremlin parties have
become implacable political rivals.
By Sergei Borisov, Transitions Online, August 25, 2003
Some observers labeled the Elections 2003 forum, aired on two television
national channels on 22 August, as "political fiction."
Red
Flags and a Big Bear at a Pre-Election Fair
By Francesca Mereu, The Moscow Times, August 25, 2003
Walking into the huge Manezh exhibition hall, where more than two
dozen political parties are holding a five-day fair to win over
the voters, it is clear how the parliamentary race is shaping up.
The
YABLOKO party will conduct its election campaign strictly within
the framework of the law, promised Grigory Yavlinsky
Rosbalt, August 21, 2003
The Statement was forwarded to the organisational committee
of the "Elections 2003" Fund and to the Chairman of the Central
Electoral Commission Alexander Veshnyakov.
On
observing the principles for honest elections in 2003-2004
Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO, Statement, August 20, 2003
In all election campaigns the Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO has acted exclusively within the framework of the law and plans to continue doing so in future.
Why
Is the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Centre Being Broken Up?
By Alexander Golov and Orkhan Jemal, Novaya Gazeta, August 14, 2003
The authorities
haven't liked the ratings it has produced; in the opinion of the authorities,
the ratings have been incorrect in some way.
Sergei
Mitrokhin expects that Alfred Kokh's statement on the intentions
of the SPS to conduct a tough struggle against YABLOKO to be disavowed
MK-Novosti, August 12, 2003
"For the first time an official representative of the SPS openly
admitted that this party was going to fight against YABLOKO"
A
fake 'apple'* has ripened in the country
By Sergei Alexandrov, Komsomolskaya Pravda, August 9, 2003
YABLOKO beat a record among the party victims of the black PR.
* YABLOKO means 'apple' in Russian.
Liberals
blame Chubais and Kokh for dirty campaign tactics
By Alexander Kolesnichenko, Novye Izvestia, August 8, 2003 (Archive)
Sergei Mitrokhin maintains
that Anatoly Chubais, head of the Russian United Energy Systems
(UES) has allocated $5 million to discredit Yabloko, and that the
anti-Yabloko campaign is being orchestrated by Alfred Kokh, campaign
manager for the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS).
Maxim
Reznik: There has never been a split in the St. Petersburg branch
of the YABLOKO party
Rosbalt, August 7, 2003
Such a comment
on Irina Khakamada's statement about the action 'YABLOKO without Yavlinsky'
was made by the leader of the St. Petersburg branch of the YABLOKO party
Maxim Reznik to the Rosbalt correspondent.
Who
Is Taking a Bite out of YABLOKO*?
Gazeta, August 5, 2003 (Archive)
YABLOKO activists are determined to close ranks in the face of the new
threat.
* YABLOKO means 'apple' in Russian.
Head
of the St.P etersburg branch of YABLOKO: "YABLOKO Without Yavlinsky"
initiative will only help the leader of the party
Rosbalt, August 4, 2003
According to Reznik, YABLOKO had a hard time findnmig out who Igor
Morozov is and it is difficult to say how he could study the situation
in the party to be able to make such actions and statements.
SPS
is going to engage in tough struggle against YABLOKO for the electorate
RIA Oreanda, August 11, 2003
On August 8, 2003, Head of the election campaign
staff of the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) Alfred Kokh announced to
journalists that he planned to engage in a tough struggle against YABLOKO
to grab the electorate of the former.
Media
law changes provoke concern about press freedom
BBC Monitoring, August 8, 2003
Many in the media
and political establishment view the changes as a rollback of
a decade of media freedoms and a threat to free speech and free elections,
particularly in the regions.
Yabloko
Officials Complain About 'Black PR'
RFE/RL, August 6, 2003
Sergei Mitrokhin, deputy
leader of the Yabloko faction in the State Duma, referred to the
movement's formation as political "hackwork" and an action
of "black PR," RosBalt reported the same day.
Sergei
Mitrokhin: "I consider the campaign YABLOKO Without Yavlinsky
to be an unprofessional piece of black PR action."
Rosbalt, August 5, 2003
Mitrokhin
also noted that the movement YABLOKO Without Yavlinsky did not have a single
member of the YABLOKO party, which means that the party does not have people
who would agree to participate in such provocations for money.
Sergei
Mitrokhin: Those who ordered the campaign "YABLOKO Without
Yavlinsky" will be detected soon.
Rosbalt, August 5, 2003
He stressed that the YABLOKO party was consistent in opposing the [government's
variant of the] reform in the electricity sector, the opaque privatisation
of the largest and most profitable assets in this sector, the attempts
of the large monopolies to grasp the housing and
utilities sector and switch to 100% payment by the population of housing
and utilities services.
United
Russia is the Richest and the Most Economical Party
By Valery Tzigankov, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, August 5, 2003
We have obtained copies of the financial statements of United Russia,
the Communist Party, the LDPR, YABLOKO, the People's Party, and
the Union of Right-Wing Forces for 2002 - and checked the figures
against reality.
Sergei
Mitrokhin: Anatoli Chubais ordered the "YABLOKO without Yavlinsky
press campaign
Rosbalt, August 1, 2003
In an interview with Rosbalt correspondent, Deputy Head of the YABLOKO
party Sergei Mitrokhin
said that the press conference "YABLOKO without Yavlinsky"
conducted in Moscow on Thursday represented a "banal black
PR campaign ".
Housing
and Utilities Elections Russian Regions Vote for a Taming of
Housing and Utilities Managers
By Natalia Ratiani, Izvestia, July 22, 2003
Today Russian voters are more concerned about the performance of
the housing and utilities services rather than democratic liberties,
and they will be more eager to vote for parties that propose a way
out of the vicious circle in housing and utilities reform.
Who
Has the Power
By Nikolai Popov, Novoye Vremya, No 28, July, 2003
As in the past 75 per cent of Russians believe that "the
state should resolve all the country's problems."
Pre-election
Ratings Evoke No Trust
By Valery Vyzhutovich, Rossiiskaya Gazeta No. 143, July 18, 2003
The All-Russia Centre for Public Opinion Studies (VTsIOM)
published the results of its latest opinion polls a few days ago, which
show that 27 percent of the electorate are prepared to vote for the communists
and 26 percent for United Russia.
Yabloko
Still Counts On Khodorkovsky
By Francesca Mereu, The Moscow Times, July 16, 2003
The liberal opposition Yabloko party says it is not worried about
losing the financial support of Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky,
despite a sense that his political activities are one cause of his
current conflict with the Kremlin.
Central
Electoral Commission tried to Reconcile Political Rivals
By Olga Tropkina, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, June 27, 2003
The drafting of a public accord entitled "Elections
2003", which was initiated yesterday by the Central Electoral Commission
(CEC) and involved the leaders of the major political parties, ran the
risk of resulting in a scandal.
Voters
Nabbed by Networks. Election Race Begins: Political Parties Seek
Support from Virtual World
By Anna Zakatnova, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, 25 June 2003
Parties' fondness for the Internet has gone so far that Yabloko members
have even proposed using the Net for public supervision of the elections.
Poll
Suggests Only Four Parties Will Have Seats in New Parliament
Interfax, June 26, 2003
Grigory Yavlinsky's Yabloko
party would come in third with 8% of the vote. Its position has
not deteriorated since the previous poll.
Deputies
Go Home With an Eye on Upcoming Elections
By Francesca Mereu, The Moscow Times, June 23, 2003
After pushing through tax bills but failing to elect a new human
rights commissioner, State Duma deputies wrapped up their spring
session Saturday and headed home to woo voters before reconvening
in the fall with the December elections in mind.
Silence
of the Lambs
Vremya MN, June 19, 2003
In other words, the majority of the lower house voted to remove
citizens of Russia and the media from the election process. No more
free and democratic elections in Russia.
Visit of Grigory Yavlinsky to Rostov Region
Yuzhni Region, June 2, 2003
... We are going to introduce a large programme for the development of small cities in autumn. We would like to discuss the possibility for such work in Rostov Region and the South Russia...
YABLOKO Decides to Help to Small Cities
By Sergei Andreyev, Komsomolskaya Pravda, June 4, 2003
After St. Petersburg another Russian city is preparing to celebrate its 300th anniversary. This is a small city, Belaya Kalitva, situated in Rostov region. The city was visited by Chairman of the YABLOKO party Grigory Yavlinsky during his trip to Rostov region, when he promised to help with the preparations of the celebrations.
YABLOKO: there will be no alliance with the CPRF
Lenta.ru, May 29, 2003
Lukin also called the billboards that appeared in Moscow streets and picture YABLOKO with a sickle and hammer under a slogan "We Are Together" a provocation and 'black PR'.
YABLOKO forwarded to the Central Electoral Commission and Public Prosecutor General of Moscow a petition demanding that it take to task the promotion company picturing YABLOKO with hammer and sickle
Finmarketnovosti, May 30, 2003
Deputy Chairman of YABLOKO Sergei Mitrokhin forwarded to the Central Electoral Commission and Public Prosecutor General of Moscow a petition demanding that it curb the 'black PR': placards that appeared in the metro picturing YABLOKO with hammer and sickle and a slogan "We Are Together!"
YABLOKO Against 'Black PR'
Komsomolskaya Pravda, May 31, 2003
The YABLOKO party: mass media should put barriers to dirty election technologies.
Vladimir Lukin: "We Are Not Inferior To Others. We Have A
Distinct History"
By Nairi Hovsepyan, Novoye Vremya (New Times), May 2003
You
know that revolution has a dual nature. It is not only a bloody, dramatic and romantic upheaval
linked with symbolic actions, often destructive. It is also a renewal of society when each cell
begins to live in a new way.
May's Poll by VTsIOM
Interfax, May 30, 2003
If the elections to the State Duma were held this Sunday, the CPRF would be ahead of United Russia: these parties would get 28% and 30% respectively.
President still most popular - poll
Interfax, May 28, 2003
A survey conducted by the All Russian Center For Public Opinion Studies of 1,600 showed that 70% (3% less than in April) of Russians approved of the president's work in May and 27% (3% more than the month before) held the opposite opinion.
Putin's Rating Falls While Unified Russia's Rises
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, May 29, 2003
The poll found that President Putin's approval rating fell to 70 percent from 73
percent last month -- reaching its lowest level since December 2000, when his rating was 68 percent. The center also found that the rating for the pro-Kremlin Unified Russia party rose from 21 percent last month to 23 percent in May.
Grigory Yavlinsky: We Should Not Tolerate This Government Any More
By Sergei Yuriyev, Komsomolskaya Pravda, May 23, 2003
On the threshold of the May bank holidays the YABLOKO party announced its decision to begin collecting signatures among deputies of the State Duma for the vote of no-confidence in the government.
Grigory
Yavlinsky Called on the Residents of Perm to Watch
Less TV
By Ksenia Veretennikova, Vremya Novostei, May 26, 2003
"We should not imagine anything. We should create
such an economy that would survive even under a bad
government."
Zyuganov
and the Void, Analysis of the latest political rumors
By Leonid Sergienko, Vremya MN, May 23, 2003
Vicious dirty PR tactics allegedly made by some political
consultants close to the Kremlin indicate how seriously
the regime considers a possible communist alliance
with some oligarchs.
PUTIN
RAISES THE STAKES FOR DUMA ELECTIONS
By Laura Belin, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Russian Political Weekly Vol. 3, No. 20, 23 May 2003
...Nevertheless, for the first time in post-Soviet
Russia, a president endorsed in such a forum the idea
of appointing a government that would enjoy the support
of most parliamentarians...
SPS
Picks Kokh as Election Chief
By Andrei Zolotov Jr., The Moscow Times, May 6, 2003
Alfred Kokh, one of the most colorful and controversial
figures in both business and politics, will undertake
next Monday the daunting task of managing the parliamentary
election campaign for the liberal Union of Right Forces
party.
Russia's
elections will not be devoid of ideological content
By Igor Bunin, General Director of the Political Consulting
Center, Vremya Novostei, April 29, 2003
Yabloko's key supporters are the Russian intelligentsia,
who demand honest politics and moderate-liberal ideas.
The widespread revival of the state idea in today's
Russia has influenced these people as well - thus,
in a timely response to this trend, Yabloko has avoided
transforming itself into a politically destructive
organization, unlike the Liberal Russia party. Therefore,
it has a good chance of securing seats in the next
Duma.
Veshnyakov:
Freedom of Speech in a Labyrinth
Interview with Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission
Alexander Veshnyakov By Anna Feofilaktova, Moskovsky
Komsomolets, April 25, 2003
Russia's journalists are in a panic: fairly soon,
the sight of newspapers or televisions being shut
down could become commonplace. The Central Electoral
Commission (CEC), the Media Ministry and finally the
courts would merely have to decide whether journalists
were not objective in their coverage of a certain
presidential or parliamentary candidate or were praising
another candidate too much.
"Bolsheviks"
Against "Mensheviks"
By Marina Ozerova, Natalya Galimova and Natalya Shpitsina,
Moskovsky Komsomolets, April 22, 2003
Moskovsky Komsomolets interviewed prominent Russian
parliament members about their attitude to the "principle of
one-party rule": It should be noted that representatives of
the parties with the best chances of winning the elections are more
favourable to the idea than their colleagues from the Duma "minority".
Vladimir
Lukin: "We have to summon up our strength and
win, as you do in a game of preference."
By Marina Ozerova, Interview with Vladimir
Lukin, Deputy Speaker of the State Duma (YABLOKO),
Moskovsky Komsomolets, April 23, 2003
...I like to
be in touch with the electorate that a politician should be close
to and sense their mood and thoughts.
Campaign
Kicks Off With Online Tricks
By Simon Saradzhyan and Larisa Naumenko, The Moscow
Times, April 21, 2003
Even though the parliamentary election campaign and
the mudslinging expected to accompany it have yet
to gain momentum, some parties and politicians have
already fallen victim to elaborate schemes designed
to damage their reputation in the eyes of their Internet-connected
voters.
YABLOKO,
SPS and CPRF to join together to ensure fair and honest
elections
KM-Novosti, April 16, 2003
The
goal of the coming union is not to participate as a bloc in the
forthcoming parliamentary election, but rather to monitor the voting
process.
Grigory
Yavlinsky: Elections can be such a hassle
RTR, "News of the Week", April 13, 2003
...Russian needs politicians
to save human lives. That should be the main political goal in
Russia.
Filing
Cabinet for Policy Platforms Most Russian voters don't
care about the policies of political parties
By Xenia Veretennikova, Vremya Novostei, April 9,
2003
For the majority of voters these platforms do not
contain anything they find interesting. Voters are
more attracted to a "brand", charismatic
leader, or some kind of election campaign slogan.
The exceptions, possibly, are only the Communist Party
and Yabloko.
The
YABLOKO Party to carry out its election campaign to
the State Duma in a new way this year
Vremya Novostei, April 4, 2003
Deputy Head of the YABLOKO faction in the State Duma
of the Russian Federation Sergei
Ivanenko informed a VN correspondent that this
campaign would be conducted on the streets, rather
than through the media.
Information
campaign against YABLOKO and Yavlinsky
Special for the YABLOKO web-site, March 28, 2003
In January-March 2003 the media conducted a campaign
to defame and discredit an alternative plan for reforming the housing
and communal services sector developed by YABLOKO. The television
channel, Ren-TV, newspapers such as Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Tribuna,
Noviye Izvestiya and 30 regional newspapers were employed in the
campaign.
Grigory
Yavlinsky: "The President Alone Cannot Control
Everything."
Interview with Grigory
Yavlinsky, Gazeta, March 25, 2003
Society needs an independent Duma. If we have an imitation
Duma instead of a real Duma, and the court and elections, parties
and politics are also an imitation, then we may end up with an
imitation of presidential power. We should not forget about this.
Duma
Eyes Election Violations
By Nabi Abdullaev, The Moscow Times, March 26, 2003
With parliamentary and presidential elections looming,
the State Duma
passed in the first reading Friday a raft of amendments that toughen
penalties for electoral violations by individuals and the media.
Russian
Parties as They Are
By Dmitry Olshansky, Prof. Director of the Centre
for Strategic Analysis and Forecasts, Vremya Novostei, No. 46, March 2003
Six months ago sociologists concluded that the "undecided"
proportion of respondents (the floating votes unable to make up
their mind, as they don’t like any of the options) amounted to 20-25%
of the total. This was only natural a year before the elections.
However, six months later, the situation has changed, with the number
of floating voters growing to 40% of the electorate. Who will they
choose at the last possible moment? Who will they vote for? What
negative element could come from this block? These are disturbing
questions.
Duma
to silence mass media before elections
By Marina Sokolovskaya, Natalia Rostova, gazeta.ru, March 24, 2003
The State Duma has given initial approval to a presidential
draft law that makes amendments to legislation governing the activity
of media outlets during election campaigns. The deputies, however,
have ignored the concerns expressed by the media over the draft
law.
NEMTSOV
COMES A-COURTING, AND YABLOKO KEEPS ITS DISTANCE
By David White, RFE/RL Russian Political Weekly, Volume 3, Number 11, March 13, 2003
With parliamentary elections a matter of months
away, it can have come as no great surprise to followers of Russian
party politics when, at the end of January, moves toward closer
cooperation between Yabloko and the Union of Rightist Forces (SPS)
came to an end.
The
State of the Parties, Positioning of the Russian
political forces
By Dmitry Olshansky, Vremya Novostei, March 17, 2003
When determining the public's preferences six months
ago, pollsters assumed that the proportion of the "undecided"
(i.e. the floating voters who don't know whom to support, as nobody
seems to be worthy of support) was around 20-25%. This was normal,
with over a year before the elections. However, six months ago the
situation changed: the number of floating voters has increased to
some 40% of the electorate. Whom they may like and support at the
very last moment is a disturbing question.
Experts
predict social optimism at next federal elections.
ITAR-TASS, March 13, 2003
Russian sociology experts believe that the parliamentary
and presidential elections scheduled for the end of 2003 and the
first half of 2004 will be marked by high levels of social optimism,
as society has adapted to changes in the country, a high-ranking
expert said Thursday.
Who
Is Marching Left? An interview with political
analyst Anatoly
Golov, YABLOKO party By Vladimir Ignatov,
Trud, March 5, 2003
Which of Russia's political forces can actually be described
as "really left wing"? We asked Anatoly Golov, St. Petersburg
political analyst and organisational committee member of the Civic
Forum of Voters, for his views.
Kremlin
betrays right-wing parties in election committee vote
By Boris Sapozhnikov, gazeta.ru, February 13, 2003
On Wednesday the lower house voted to elect its representatives
to the Central Election Committee. The routine procedure
of electing new members led to a completely unexpected
alliance between the liberal Yabloko leader Grigory
Yavlinsky and the head of the ultra-nationalist
LDPR Vladimir Zhirinovsky, which helped Yabloko's
candidate keep her post in the CEC. The support of
the pro-presidential factions also made Yabloko's
victory possible, and was a slap in the face for the
SPS.
Kremlin
Tightening Reins Ahead of Polls
By Natalia Yefimova, Staff Writer, The Moscow Times, February 14, 2003
Worried that its most loyal party won't manage to
sweep the December parliamentary elections, the Kremlin is trying
to help it along by squeezing out competitors from the middle of
the political spectrum.
Sergei Mitrokhin refutes allegations about YABLOKO's talks with Boris Fyodorov
Rosbalt, February 27, 2003
"Boris Fyodorov
has not conducted and is not holding any talks with our party on
including his candidacy in the federal list of YABLOKO at the State
Duma elections," said Deputy Head of theYABLOKO party Sergei
Mitrokhin to the Rosbalt correspondent on Thursday, February 27, 2003.
YABLOKO starts preparing for State Duma election
RIA Novosti, February 22, 2003
According to YABLOKO's press-service, the decision to create the headquarters was adopted at meeting of the Bureau of the Federal Council of the YABLOKO party on Saturday.
The Regional Resources of Federal Parties
By Alexander Khramchikhin, head departmental analyst of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis, Vremya MN, February 18, 2003
The size of the population and its activity at elections, the political preferences of the electorate and the strength and direction of the administrative resources -- these parameters determine the value of each of the 89 RF regions for the political parties during elections to the State Duma.
Rivalry Fragments Russia's Liberals
By Sharon LaFraniere, Washington Post Foreign Service, Washington Post, February 7, 2003
MOSCOW, Feb. 6 -- Moscow was poised last week for a major political event:
a meeting between two of Russia's best-known politicians who embrace
Western-style market democracy. After not speaking to each other for six
months, they were supposed to discuss uniting their political parties in a
bid to widen their slender niche in a parliament dominated by President
Vladimir Putin.
Russia on the Threshold of Elections
By Andrei Ryabov, Profil, No. 4, January 2003
Although a considerable amount of time remains until the official start of the parliamentary election race, the parties are taking up their positions now. It is crystal clear that the Kremlin will pull the strings in the forthcoming elections.
Only four parties will make it into next State Duma according to poll
Interfax, January 30, 2003
According to a new poll, if State Duma elections were held today, the United Russia party would win 26% of votes, the Communist Party 22% and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia and the Yabloko Party 5% each.
Yavlinsky Will Go His Own Way
By Bulat Stolyarov, Vitaly Ivanov, Vedomosti, January 27, 2003
Yabloko sponsors have failed to persuade Grigory Yavlinsky that his party and the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) should combine their candidate lists for the parliamentary elections.
YABLOKO* Will Not Roll Towards the SPS
By Vladimir Ignatov, Trud, January 30, 2003
- It is difficult for the leaders of both the parties to find an acceptable coalition formula. YABLOKO's active voters remember only too well Gaidar's "shock therapy" and don't want to hear about the considered culprit Chubais.
YABLOKO Does Not Sell Itself
By Anastasia Matveyeva, Gazeta, January 29, 2003
As Gazeta have already reported before, today the idea of a coalition between the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) and Yabloko can be forgotten.. Yesterday, on January 28, [Yabloko Leaders] Grigory Yavlinsky and Sergei Ivanenko forwarded to [SPS leaders] Boris Nemtsov and Irina Khakamada a letter, saying the SPS's proposals were unacceptable for Yabloko. The long-awaited meeting of the leaders of the two parties, scheduled for Wednesday, will not take place.
SPS and YABLOKO parties are too different to do Duma election deal
Ekho Moskvy, January 29, 2003
YABLOKO will not merge with the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) and will not form a joint list of candidates with the party in the run-up to the December 2003 parliamentary elections, the Deputy Head of YABLOKO faction in the State Duma, Sergey Ivanenko, said on Ekho Moskvy radio.
Liberals see no future for the parties on the right
By Ksenia Solyanskaya, gazeta.ru, January 29, 2003
After evaluating the prospects of the right of centre in the impending elections, liberals from the Yabloko Party announced that their leader Grigory Yavlinsky would not attend a Wednesday meeting with Boris Nemtsov. It looks as if Yabloko politicians believe they will get enough seats in the Duma, while the party of Chubais, Nemtsov and Khakamada will get none.
No Yabloko-SPS Coalition in Polls
The Moscow Times, January 30, 2003
The country's top liberal parties, Yabloko and the Union of Right
Forces, or SPS, will not run together in upcoming parliamentary elections,
an SPS leader said Wednesday.
There Are Two Political Forces in Russia: the Communists and Putin
An interview with Viktor Militaryov, President of the Development Institute Foundation., Konservator No. 1, January 17, 2003
At present, there are two political forces in Russia: the Communist Party
and Putin. Moreover, people seem not to perceive any fundamental difference between the
two. Most people view them as representing their interests, aimed at improving their
lives as soon as possible. People hope for a better standard of living and are becoming
more indifferent to oligarchs, and believe in a stronger state.
Yabloko and the SPS are of each other as Maskhadov and Putin
By Anastasiya Matveeva, Gazeta, January 24, 2003
Everybody can forget the idea of a merger between Yabloko and the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS).
Yabloko, led by Grigory Yavlinsky, has issued a firm "no" to an offer from the SPS, delivered via some business
leaders. In other words, next week's meeting between Yavlinsky and SPS leader Boris Nemtsov, dedicated to
the merger issue, will probably be pointless.
Yavlinsky Receives an Offer to Compete with the President
By Andrey Savitsky, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, January 24, 2003
Talks on a merger between Yabloko and the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) have reached a crescendo. We have learned the gist of some carefully- concealed proposals for a compromise merger between the SPS and Yabloko. In brief, the unification plan consists of the following. In the Duma elections the two parties would form a single bloc, with a common list of candidates.
Nemtsov Would Like to Unite with Yavlinsky
The National Information Group, January 22, 2003
The leader of the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) Boris Nemtsov confirmed that he had forwarded to the leader of YABLOKO Grigory Yavlinsky his proposals on a possible union between the two parties for participation in parliamentary and presidential elections. "Our proposals were forwarded to Yavlinsky via an influential intermediary," noted Boris Nemtsov in an interview with Interfax on Wednesday.
Russia Enters the Year of Parliamentary Elections
By Marina Shakina, Versty No. 149
Russia is holding parliamentary elections in 2003. Like the Olympics
they are held every four years.
The 1993 elections witnessed the collapse of Russia's Choice, the
favourite at the time, and the victory of a "dark horse" - the LDPR. The
authorities were shocked by the 1995 election results owing to the return of
the Communist party as the leading force. The 1999 elections represented a
breakthrough for the Unity party, which overshadowed the traditional success
of the Communists. What will 2003 bring?
Liberals Want Chubais Off the Political Scene
By Maria Tsvetkova, gazeta.ru, December 24, 2002
The liberal Yabloko Party leader Grigory Yavlinsky, after consolidating
support from his party activists at a conference held last Saturday, entered
into a decisive battle Monday with the leadership of the Union of Righ-Wing
Forces (SPS), long viewed by many as a potential ally of Yabloko in next
year's parliamentary elections.
Yavlinsky issued an ultimatum to SPS leaders Boris Nemtsov and Irina
Khakamda, saying that to form an election coalition with Yabloko they must
first expel Anatoly Chubais and Sergei Kiriyenko, whose political pasts
undermine the reputation of the parties on the right.
Grigory Yavlinsky has Turned Leftist
By Yuri Chernega, Kommersant, December 24, 2002
Endorsed by the Yabloko General Council last weekend, the charter is to
be discussed by the Russian Democratic Assembly set up at the initiative of
Grigori Yavlinsky's supporters. The charter comments sadly on the "declining
confidence in democratic values and free market reforms" caused by "mistakes
and sometimes crimes committed under the guise of democratic and reformist
slogans by people calling themselves democrats and reformers." The charter
concludes that "trust in the new alliance of democrats will be minimal if
the coalition is headed by the same people who supported the war in
Chechnya, carried out criminal privatization, built state financial
pyramids, and initiated fiscal defaults."
Russians
see Putin as political party
By Avtandil Tsuladze, December 23, 2002
The Kremlin's experiment aimed at creating a
strong party system in Russia is doomed to failure.
Ironically, Vladimir Putin's soaring ratings
are to blame. This also means that the St. Petersburg
liberals and top civil servants, who rose to power
on the back of Putin's landslide election victory
in 2000, will, sooner or later, have to go through
the rigmarole of registering with the Justice Ministry,
just like all other political parties.
Freedom or Property?
"Svobodni Kurs" (Free Course), Barnaul, December 12, 2002
Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky, by Elena Fyodorinova and Dmitri Negreev
At the request of "Svobodni Kurs" the leader of YABLOKO Grigory
Yavlinsky shared with us his forecasts for the coming year.
General
Elections Coming
No surprises expected?
Moscow Tribune, By Stanislav Menshikov, December
20, 2002
In less than a year Russia will have a new parliament
and soon after, a newly elected president. The election
marathon in this country is usually an exciting time.
Recall Boris Yeltsin's first success in 1991 while
Mikhail Gorbachev was still around and his narrow
victory against Gennady Zyuganov in 1996 after lagging
behind his rival for months. Recall Vladimir Zhirinovsky's
unexpected triumph in the parliamentary elections
of 1993 and the joint Communist-Agrarian victory in
the Duma elections of 1995. Equally dramatic was the
appearance out of nowhere of the Unity (Bear) party
in 1999 which led to Putin's election as president
and his eventual overwhelming control of the parliament.
Yavlinsky:
Yabloko can't cooperate with Chubais and Kiriyenko
Interfax, December 23, 2002
MOSCOW. Dec 23 (Interfax) - Yabloko leader Grigory
Yavlinsky has named the politicians who, in his opinion,
have no role to play in the democratic coalition.
Grigory
Yavlinsky, leader of YABLOKO: "As the manipulation
factor is very strong, nothing can be predicted."
Konservator, By Nelli Orlova, November 29, 2002
MOSCOW, Sept. 27 - Energy executives and government
officials from Russia and the United Question: What
is your overall political forecast for the next year,
and for the upcoming fourth Duma elections?
The
Anti-Oligarch Dialogue
Konservator, By Lilia Shevtsova, Leading Researcher,
the Carnegie Foundation, November 29, 2002
MOSCOW, Sept. 27 - Energy executives and government
officials from Russia and the United States will meet
in Houston next week to discuss energy cooperation
at a time when concerns over the safety of world oil
supplies have been heightened by the Bush administration's
push for We are observing a curious and paradoxical
situation at the moment: President Putin has opened
a dialogue with Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky.
Indecent
Proposal.
The right-wing are once again considering a marriage
of convenience
Moskovsky Komsomolets, By Alexander Minkin, October
23 2002
Another attempt by the democrats to unite has proved
abortive. Or rather an attempt by their leaders. Boris
Nemtsov explained this failure on TV, saying with
a jeer that "the bride who is past her prime is too
capricious and choosy.
Your
Union Is a Pretence, Friends
Rossiiskaya Gazeta, By Vitaly Tretyakov, October 24,
2002
The talk about the prospect of uniting democratic
forces in an electoral union, movement, or bloc has
had a long history and has little hope for success.
From time to time, the idea of such a union is revived,
especially duringsessions of the Democratic conference
that consists of a number of dwarfish party structures,
human rights watching clubs, and first and foremost
the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) and Yabloko.
Russia:
Centrists Propose Changing Electoral Law
Radio Liberty, By Gregory Feifer, October 18, 2002
Since Russian President Vladimir Putin came
to power over two years ago, he has done much to carry
out his promise of strengthening centralized power.
The pro-Kremlin Unified Russia party is now proposing
to further consolidate the country's political forces
by changing parliamentary election rules.
Lawmakers
Eye Tougher Rules for Duma Seats
The Moscow Times, by Oksana Yablokova, October 10,
2002.
A handful of young Yabloko supporters, wearing red
wigs in a nod to Chubais and carrying boxes reading
"Alms for reform," protesting the UES bills at the
Duma on Wednesday.
Russia
considers electoral change
UPI, By Anthony Louis, October 8, 2002
MOSCOW, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Leaders of a growing pro-Kremlin
political bloc have proposed changing Russia's electoral
rules by dramatically raising the threshold of votes
in parliamentary elections required for political
parties to win seats in the Duma, Russia's lower house.
The
proposal of "United Russia" to raise the
threshold for access to the State Duma to 12.5% is
targeted against YABLOKO and the Union of Right-Wing
Forces
Rosbalt, October 7, 2002
The proposal of the "United Russia" to raise the threshold
for access to the State Duma to 12.5% is targeted
against YABLOKO and the Union of Right-Wing Forces.
This opinion was expressed by Deputy Chairman of the
YABLOKO party Sergei Ivanenko to a Rosbalt correspondent
on Monday. According to Ivanenko, this proposal had
been developed by the representatives of the "second
echelon" of "United Russia". " First we should learn
what the real heads of the party - the Administration
of the President of the RF - will say to this," noted
Ivanenko.
Grigory
Yavlinsky: The twelve per cent barrier is preparing
the grounds for a nationwide crisis.
NTV channel, "Segodnya Vecherom" programme,
October 7, 12002, 10.00 p.m.
Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky
Kremlin
Has a Bill on Firing Governors
The Moscow Times, by Andrei Zolotov Jr., October 8,
2002
Contrary to what some see as a friendlier phase in
President Vladimir Putin's relationship with the governors,
the Kremlin is cobbling together plans to strengthen
its grip on the regional powers.
Speech
of the First Deputy head of the YABLOKO faction of
the State Duma Sergei Ivanenko during discussions
of the draft law on the ban on referendums in the
year of elections to the State Duma and presidential
elections
The State Duma of the RF
September 18, 2002.
Pro-Kremlin
party to rid Duma of liberals, Zhirinovsky
gazeta.ru, by Artyom Vernidoub , October 8, 2002
Existing economic mechanisms only achieve the very
narrow goal of maintaining the present [economic]
level, but fail to provide for medium-term economic
growth. In terms of solutions to the main problems
facing the country, the economic system has been in
a state of decline and has The State Duma's most numerous
and servile faction -- the pro-Kremlin Unity Party
and its centrist allies -- is set to purge the house
of its smaller factions, such as Yabloko, the Union
of Right-Wing Forces (SPS), and Vladimir Zhirinovsky's
LDPR, and in the long run form a bipartisan parliament.
Yavlisnky's
Credo: Against Corruption in the Union of Right-Wing
Forces and for Putin
Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky, leader of the Yabloko
party
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, by Maxim Glikin, October 11,
2002
"Question: Perhaps
RAO UES executives are deliberately "driving
down" the company's share price, so that it will
be easier to buy it up?
Yavlinsky: If
they deliberately set out to devalue RAO UES by USD6
billion over two years, the executives of this state-owned
company ought to be sent to... You know where. Immediately.
That qualifies as misappropriation of state property."
Liberal
Alternative to Putin.
Why we need a right-wing challenger to Putin in 2004
by Leonid Sedov, National Public Opinion Research
Center (VTsIOM)
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, October 2, 2002
The key postulate of contemporary Russian politics
is that the political stage is dominated by Vladimir
Putin. Few doubt that he will win the next presidential
elections. Polls indicate that 47% of voters are prepared
to vote for Putin, and even more (76%) approve of
his performance as President. It is hard to imagine
any event that could change this situation significantly....
Deputy
of the State Duma Mikhail Zadornov: Budget for 2003
is unfavourable towards regions
Rosbalt, August 30, 2002
Moscow August 30, 2002. The adoption by the State
Duma of the federal budget for 2003 in the government’s
version is unprofitable for Russia’s regions.
This opinion was expressed by Deputy Head of the Budget
Committee of the State Duma Mikhail Zadornov (YABLOKO)
at his meeting with journalists on Friday, August
30, 2002.
Two
Different Things
Trud, July 19, 2002
The Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) is prone to sudden
new ideas. Petr Kutcherenko, a member of the SPS national
political council and leader of the SPS youth wing,
has proposed asking Boris Yeltsin to head the democratic
bloc during the parliamentary elections scheduled
for December 2003.
Seleznev
Will Not Manage to Become a Lebed
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, by Anatoli
Kostyukov. July 19, 2002
Yesterday the Duma delegation of the YABLOKO faction
handed Andrei Sharonov, RF Former friends make the
worst enemies. Obviously, following this reasoning,
it has been predicted that the party being launched
by Duma speaker Gennady Seleznev will be a dangerous
competitor for the Communist Party (CPRF).
YABLOKO
AND THE VACUUM
No merger or alliance for the Union of Right-Wing
Forces and Yabloko
Vek No. 22, by Andrei Ryabov. July 12, 2002
The latest round of talks about campaign cooperation
between the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) and Yabloko
has led to much discussion about the form of this
cooperation - from joint support for candidates in
single-mandate districts to all the democratic parties
uniting behind one presidential candidate. As in previous
years, there is a marked level of scepticism about
the possibility of a pre-election alliance between
these parties.
Chubais
and Kirienko to Oust Putin
Gazeta.ru, by Elena Rudneva. June 27, 2002.
The leader of YABLOKO, Grigory Yavlinsky, issued this
statement. According to Yavlinsky, he planned to have
a meeting on Monday with the President to "discuss
this threat".
YABLOKO
and the Union of Right-Wing Forces to Agree in Autumn
Kommersant, July 6, 2002. By Syuzanna Farizova
On July 5, a meeting of the united political council
of the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) and Yabloko
was held in the Duma. After a debate that lasted two
hours, the two democratic parties decided to run in
the 2003 parliamentary election separately but coordinate
their lists of candidates in single-mandate districts.
The main issue forthe parties - the nomination of
a single candidate in the 2004 presidential election
- was not decided.
Yabloko
to Team Up With SPS For Vote
By Oksana Yablokova. The Moscow Times, July 8, 2002.
Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces, the country's
two main liberal parties, announced Friday that they
will work out a joint political platform for backing
a single "democratic" candidate in the next
presidential election, in 2004.
Kremlin's
Doubles
By Yelena Tregubova. Kommersant-Vlast, No. 23, June
2002.
The Speaker of the State Duma Gennay Seleznev announced
last week that he intends to develop the Rossia movement
into a real political party. If he succeeds, Rossia
will essentially become a second communist party,
a sort of carbon copy of the CPRF. Actually, this
fits in with the logic of President Vladimir Putin's
actions, who seems intent on running the country with
the help of a system of duplicates.
YABLOKO
launches election Ccampaign and augments upper echelons
with defectors from the Union of Right-Wing Forces
By Anna Zakatnova, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, June 17, 2002
Representatives from 55 regional branches of the party
attended the national congress. It took them three
days to discuss Yabloko's official position with regard
to the regime, personnel matters, and preparations
for the forthcoming parliamentary elections.... |
