Press Release, 22.01.2024

Photos by the Yabloko Press Service

The head of the Yabloko faction in the Veliky Novgorod City Duma Anna Cherepanova, the head of the regional Centre for Anti-Corruption Policies Ksenia Cherepanova, and a member of the Bureau of the Novogorod branch of Yabloko Viktor Shalyakin came to St. Petersburg to meet their colleagues.

Past week, St. Petersburg Yabloko members received guests – their colleagues from Veliky Novgorod. Anna Cherepanova, Deputy Chair of the Yabloko party, Chair of the Novgorod regional branch of the party and head of the Yabloko faction in the City Duma of Veliky Novgorod, Ksenia Cherepanova, Chair of the local Yabloko branch in Veliky Novgorod and head of the regional Centre for Anti-Corruption Policies, and Viktor Shalyakin, a member of the regional Bureau and head of the Yabloko campaign headquarters at the past elections to the City Duma of Veliky Novgorod.

During the meeting which took place in the Mariinsky Palace, where the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg works, guests from Veliky Novgorod discussed with deputies of the Yabloko faction in the St.Petersburg Legislative Assembly Boris Vishnevsky and Alexander Shishlov, and Olga Tsepilova, a member of the Federal Bureau, Chair of the Green Russia faction, the practices of parliamentary work of the Yabloko factions in different regions.

At the office of the St. Petersburg Yabloko, members of the Novgorod delegation spoke about their unique experience of conducting successful election campaigns. More than 40 members and candidates for party membership took part in the meeting, which was monitored by the Chairman of the St. Petersburg Yabloko, Alexander Shishlov.

The participants of the meeting were particularly interested in the experience of the September municipal campaign, which took place in Veliky Novgorod, as well as in other regions, where Yabloko participated in the elections under the slogan “For Peace!”

Anna Cherepanova emphasised that every election in the Novgorod region begins with a change in the electoral legislation in order to make it difficult for the opposition to be elected, and documents for the elections must be prepared perfectly, taking into account the bias of electoral commissions.

The leader of the Novgorod Yabloko recalled that during the election campaign for the elections to the City Duma of Veliky Novgorod last summer, the regional branch came under serious pressure from both the electoral commission and the law enforcement agencies. This was due to the fact that the campaign took place under the slogans “For Peace, Life and Freedom”. The Novgorod Yabloko considered these principles to be key in the current conditions and placed emphasis on them, which in turn resonated with many Novgorod residents.

In addition, Anna Cherepanova recalled that since 2021 all campaign materials of the Novgorod Yabloko have been bearing the “foreign agent” marking, since Ksenia Cherepanova was once a member of the Golos election observers organisation, which was later recognised as a foreign agent.

“The newspaper was confiscated, Ksenia Cherepanova’s home was searched, and five administrative cases were opened against Yabloko candidates. These were acts of intimidation and demoralisation, but we continued to work. Not a single candidate withdrew from the elections, despite enormous pressure. The Novgorod Yabloko was fined 200,000 roubles during the election campaign,” Anna Cherepanova stressed.

Ksenia Cherepanova, head of the Centre for Anti-Corruption Policies in the Novgorod Region and head of one of the local branches of the party, spoke about best practices in conducting an election campaign, and also emphasised the importance of observation at polling stations.

“The most important problem during a multi-day voting is the overnight storage of ballots; it is necessary to make it clear to the authorities that Yabloko is monitoring the polling stations both day and night,” Ksenia Cherepanova said.

Viktor Shalyakin, a member of the regional Bureau, head of Yabloko’s election headquarters for the City Duma of Veliky Novgorod and retired Air Force major, emphasised that the “Kremlin parties” are unprofitable for citizens.

“It is important to help your comrades, if there is a team game, then you will start winning. The main goal is to increase votes, increase the likelihood of winning. The candidate who believes in his/her own victory will win, people will not believe the one who himself/herself does not believe in winning the election,” Viktor Shalyakin noted.

“You can’t trust anyone, neither the police nor the electoral commission – they want to deceive you. We must remember that in relation to the opposition there will only be lawlessness in elections in modern Russia,” Shalyakin added.