Press Release, 3.04.2021

Photo: Grigory Yavlinsky /Photo by the Press Service of the Yabloko party

The goal of the reform in the Yabloko party is to preserve the political core of the democratic opposition in the authoritarian mafia state with a chauvinist ideology. Such a statement was made at the Yabloko congress by Grigory Yavlinsky, Chairman of the Federal Political Committee of Yabloko.

Vladimir Putin’s amendments to the Constitution made last year formally drew a line under the period of post-Soviet modernisation, Yavlinsky said. Now, the Basic Law enshrines the irreplaceability of Vladimir Putin’s personal power, as well as the foundations of a “corporate, mafia, authoritarian state with a chauvinistic ideology.” Yavlinsky also noted that the “anti-constitutional coup” of 1 July, 2020 [when a plebiscite for the amendments to the Constitution took place] remains outside the scope of public discussion, the society has not realised what happened.

All the previous communication between the authorities and the people was destroyed, the authorities took the position of lies, propaganda and suppression, Yavlinsky said. Grigory Yavlinsky called on his party mates to get rid of the illusion that the authorities are afraid of something – “this is not true”. He compared the state to Leviathan, which is very strong and has enormous resources.

The opposition needs to force the authorities to engage in dialogue. This requires an ideology and a professional programme of action, leaders who are able to talk with the authorities on an equal footing, and millions of supporters behind them.

Grigory Yavlinsky sees the meaning of the Yabloko reform in “preserving the political core of the democratic opposition”. Morality in politics and humanistic values must remain the imperative for the party. “Our model is a party of values ​​that has its own vision of the present and the future, and not just protesting against certain actions of officials,” Yavlinsky said.

The Yabloko leader urged his colleagues to “keep up with the times”: “while maintaining and strengthening values ​​and principles, continuously modernising the organisational structure and looking for new forms of work”. The most important task here is not to allow the party to be destroyed from the inside or the outside, the party should be preserved until the time when its values ​​are in demand by society, the head of the Federal Political Committee noted.

Yavlinsky called the takeovers the main threat to Yabloko. According to him, “the authorities, and nimble political strategists, and simply swindlers are doing this”. “Raiding is usually targeted at undermining our values ​​and norms, trust in our institutions and rules that have kept us together for decades,” the Yabloko leader said.