Press Release, 16.12.2018

Yabloko will respond to the present challenges and threats with a large-scale modernisation of the party which envisages broadening the party membership and will be  based on Yabloko’s social-liberal values, political, moral and intellectual protest against the political system of lies and imitation formed by Vladimir Putin. This decision was made by the Federal Council of the party on December 16.

The main goal of Yabloko remains the same: ensuring human rights and freedoms for all residents of the country, welfare and success of Russia and its citizens, building a modern and efficient democratic state with a powerful market economy that provides equal opportunities for each member of society. The party will work for Russia’s positive future and the universal humanistic values ​​of freedom, peace, trust and solidarity.

The key task of the party in the coming years will be renewal and modernisation of Yabloko, which means above all educating, raising and promoting new, young leaders. The party plans to expand the social base by spreading and rooting the ideas of social liberalism, democratic values ​​and European political culture in the Russian society.

The Federal Council is confident that it will be difficult for Yabloko to succeed without a thoughtful change of generations, involvement of active young people into the party and emergence of new leaders. The new politicians, in their turn, will get all the opportunities to realise their abilities and talents that the party can provide. The doors of Yabloko remain open to all citizens sharing the values ​​of the party.

The Yabloko party will continue its political struggle, including participation in elections at various levels, since participation in elections is the only way to make them fair. Members of the Federal Council believe that the possibilities of a constitutional way to achieve a change in the leadership of the country have not yet been lost.

In addition, the Yabloko decided that it is necessary to update and approve the Memorandum of Political Alternative as the party’s Constitution. Yabloko intends to intensify public awareness campaigns, improve its management structure (conduct debureaucratisation and decentralisation of management), limit the terms of office of heads of regional party branches, develop a system of collecting donations to finance party projects, continue conducting federal campaigns on the topics of priority to the party.

“Our most important task in the coming years is to strengthen and develop Yabloko as a progressive alternative to the existing system, the party of the future, the party of hope and the party of change,” the decision of the Federal Council runs.

It should be noted that the Federal Council of Yabloko is the most representative body of the party; it consists of representatives of the party regional branches (two people per each of 77 regional branches in the party) and members of all federal governing bodies (the party’s Chairperson and Deputy Chairs, the Federal Political Committee, the Bureau, the Audit Commission and the Party Arbitration). The task of the Federal Council is to discuss and develop the political line of the party in the period between congresses.

On the first day of the meeting of the Federal Council, December 15, reports were made by Grigory Yavlinsky, Yabloko founder and presidential candidate, Emilia Slabunova, Chair of Yabloko, and other party leaders with assessments of the current political situation and plans for Yabloko.