Decision No 148 by the Federal Political Committee of Yabloko, adopted on 14.10.2021, published on 18.10.2021

Photo: Gennady Zyuganov, the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF),  bows to the bust of Stalin on 5 March 2021, the anniversary of Stalin’s death / Photo by Irina Buzhor / Kommersant

The Political Committee of Yabloko considers it extremely harmful for Russian politics and the country as a whole to use voting for the communists as a tactical method of fighting a repressive dictatorship. Bolshevism and Stalinism, which the Communist Party of the Russian Federation represents in modern Russia, is an ideology alien to us. Moreover, Yabloko’s position is that creation of a modern state in Russia and development of the country is impossible without overcoming Bolshevism and Stalinism. Lack of understanding this and insufficient attention to overcoming Bolshevism in the first post-Soviet decade is one of the key reasons for the failure of the reforms.

The communists in modern Russia are the closest allies of the aggressively repressive government, rather than its opponents. The basis of their alliance with the authorities is ideological, strategic, and value-based. They fully support Vladimir Putin’s imperial, revanchist foreign policies, as well as the neo-Stalinist domestic policies.

In addition, the main principle of [Alexei Navalny’s team] Smart Voting [project] to support “any candidate that passes, except for…” is populism in its pure form, an example of negative selection. As an act of political populism, this approach aims at achieving an apparent short-term success and ultimately leads to a tangible deterioration of the initial situation.

Before the 17-19 September vote, not only the authors and ideologists of the “smart voting” actively and even angrily called on to support the Communist Party and its candidates, but also a number of public figures who have access to the broadcasting in a number of popular media outlets, as well as on social networks.

Their position is important, since traditionally the intelligentsia, the “creative class,” intellectuals have the function of guardians of important constants. When, to our great regret, this function is exchanged for momentary populist “achievements”, the whole society makes a step down.

Justification by pragmatic considerations of the actions of the authorities in 1992-1996 and in the 1996 [presidential] elections resulted in the Putin system coming to power. Justifying nationalism, left-wing populism, national-bolshevism in an attempt to combat Putin’s authoritarianism opened the door to the national-imperial transformation of Putin’s foreign policy, the annexation of Crimea, and the war in Donbass.

The current support for the KPRF is the next step down.

Supporters and campaigners of the Smart Voting are fully responsible for the actions of the Communist Party and the Prilepin’s people [nationalist and writer Zakhar Prilepin who was a militant in Donbass and now passed in to the parliament as part of the Just Russia – Patriots – For Truth party] in the present Duma [Russian parliament].

The appendix (see https://www.yabloko.ru/reshenija_politicheskogo_komiteta/2021/10/18-3

) to this Federal Political Committee decision contains quotes from famous people who supported the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and other Vladimir Putin’s parties, actively campaigning for the so-called “Smart Voting” in the elections to the State Duma in September 2021.

We note with regret that, in addition to the campaigners [for the communists and other Vladimir Putin’s parties], there were people who simply followed the recommendations. We will fight for these people, explain to them that it is impossible, for example, to support political prisoners by voting for the Stalinists.

Grigory Yavlinsky,

Chairman of

the Federal Political Committee of Yabloko