Sergei Mitrokhin’s blog post, 19.07.2024

Photo: Maxim Kruglov and Sergei Mitrokhin at their meeting with Muscovites / Photo from social media

The refusal [of the electoral commission] to register Maxim Kruglov for elections to the Moscow City Duma was expected. The barrier of [mandatory] collection of voters’ signatures [in favour of a candidate’s nomination] was created against Yabloko from the very beginning. For this reason, the Moscow law does not exempt a party that has a faction in the city parliament from collecting signatures. This norm is provided for in all regions of the Russian Federation, except Moscow, precisely because of Yabloko, which is strong in the capital, but does not have a faction in the State Duma.

Having lost all our candidates at the stage of collecting signatures, we confirmed that we are an alternative to [Moscow Mayor] Sergei Sobyanin and his policies.

But parliament today is not a place not only for discussions, but also for alternatives and initiatives. And it is also not a place for representing the interests of voters, which is incompatible with the puppet show of raising hands at the command of the executive branch and the endless singing praises in its address by the Duma majority.

The Moscow City Duma is now not a place for a deputy in the true sense of the word, but for a sycophant and lackey. That is why we won’t be there.

But we will not abandon our voters. We will find a way to protect their interests without the Moscow City Duma, from this very Moscow City Duma inclusive.

Sergei Mitrokhin

is a deputy of the Moscow City Duma,

a member of the Federal Political Committee of the Yabloko party,

Yabloko party Chairman in 2008-2015

Candidate of Political Sciences.

Sergei Mitrokhin

is a deputy of the Moscow City Duma,

a member of the Federal Political Committee of the Yabloko party,

Yabloko party Chairman in 2008-2015

Candidate of Political Sciences.