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Supreme
Court Begins Reviewing Election Annulment Case
MosNews, November 15, 2004
Sergei Ivanenko, who is the assistant head of Yabloko
and a member of the 2008 Free Choice Committee, thinks
that this trial is crucial for the future of Russia’s
democracy. “The most important thing is for
this trial to be a normal and lawful legal trial,”
he said.
Russia's
dominant party dismisses opposition protest
AFP, September 28, 2004
Russia's muscular pro-Kremlin party struck back Tuesday
at the enfeebled opposition's bid to annul last year's
parliamentary election results, saying the move could
only land it in more trouble.
Committee-2008
Challenges Election Results in the Supreme Court
RIA "Novosti", September 27, 2004
"We regard our lawsuit, not as a political statement,
but as a legal document," first deputy chairman
of the Yabloko party Sergei
Ivanenko said.
Re-elections
ahead
Kommersant, September 27, 2004
Opposition filed a lawsuit to the Supreme Court, challenging
the results of the last year's parliamentary elections
Liberals,
Communists dispute parliamentary election at Supreme
Court
Gazeta.ru, September 27, 2004
The liberal party Yabloko and the Communist Party
of the Russian Federation (KPRF) have brought a suit
to the Supreme Court against the Russian Central Election
Commission. They are contesting the results of the
parliamentary elections in December 2003. The members
of the liberal Committee 2008: Free Choice have also
brought joined the lawsuit.
Communists,
Yabloko File Suit Over Elections
By Anatoly Medetsky, St Peterburg Times, September
28, 2004
"If we win, it will no doubt be a colossal breakthrough
in terms of legality and fairness in conducting elections,"
Communist Party lawyer Vadim Solovyov said by telephone
Monday.
But Solovyov doubted the lawsuit would be successful.
"I think that our chances for success are less
than 1 percent."
Yabloko
and the Communist party, challenge election results
in court
ITAR TASS, September 27, 2004
The two parties said the Central Election Commission
must be held responsible for approving vote protocols
ignoring violations in the elections.
Highest
Court to Evaluate 2003 Duma Elections
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, September 27, 2004
Yabloko Deputy Chairman Sergei
Mitrokhin admitted that it is highly unlikely
that the elections will be invalidated, but said a
judicial examination of the campaign "will be
very useful for making our election system more honest,
transparent, objective, and fair."
State
Duma election results to be questioned at Supreme
Court
Interfax, September 13, 2004
"Lawyers of the Independent Election Institute,
the Communist Party and Yabloko drafted a lawsuit
to be filed at the Russian Supreme Court, and Committee
2008 sponsored the drafting. I think we will file
the lawsuit at the end of this week," Yabloko
Deputy Chairman Sergei
Mitrokhin told Interfax on Monday.
The
Duma Under Control
By Yana Serova, Novaya Gazeta, September 2, 2004
Amendments to electoral laws essentially mean a one-party
system in Russia
Suit
to Challenge Duma Elections
The Moscow Times, September 2, 2004
The liberal group Committee 2008: Free Choice is planning
to file a lawsuit next week with the Supreme Court
over the results of last year's parliamentary elections,
which the group claims are invalid.
We
will have transparent elections some day
By Alexandra Samarina, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, September
1, 2004
The Committee-2008 appeals to the Supreme Court to
cancel the results of the 2003 Duma campaign. Liberals
say they have got several thousands of proofs that
2003 vote was not free.
Communists
And Liberals Challenge Duma Poll
RIA Novosti, August 31, 2004
"Our suit ushers in a legal dispute of political
purport," says Sergei Ivanenko, YABLOKO first
deputy president.
Liberals
Want Duma Elections Annulled
MosNews, August 31, 2004
The liberal 2008 Free Choice Committee is set to sue
the authorities over the 2003 parliamentary elections
that the group says were invalid.
Grigory
Yavlinsky: the goal of boosting votes for United Russia
to 40% and probably of raising turnout, affected the
results of the parliamentary elections
Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky conducted by Denis
Babichenko, Itogi, March 30, 2004
In my opinion, despite all our documented arguments,
the courts will reject everything and the people will
only start to believe that it was pointless seeking
honesty at the elections.
Grigory
Yavlinsky: courts backed some of YABLOKO’s lawsuits
on the State Duma elections
Gazeta.ru, May 20, 2004
"...In a number of cases it was proved that we
were right and the courts admitted that serious and
considerable violations had been committed during
the vote-counting,” said Yavlinsky. He also
noted that some of the lawsuits are still at trial
stage and that appeals are also being considered by
courts in a number of cases.
The
Putin Model Is Doomed to Fail
By Andrei Piontkovsky
Wall Street Journall, March 15, 2004
Yesterday's Russian presidential election was another
triumph for Vladimir Putin's brand of "managed
democracy." The campaign and election followed
the pattern of the parliamentary vote three months
ago, which the OSCE characterized as "free, but
unfair."
The
Results of the Parliamentary Elections - 2003 Are
Again Contested
YABLOKO piles the courts with void protocols
YABLOKO contests the results of the parliamentary
elections in court
Nezavisimaya Gazeta,
March 11, 2004
YABLOKO's applications for lawsuits with a demand
for the annulment of the results of the Duma elections
were received by 78 district and republican courts
yesterday. Press Secretary of the YABLOKO party Sergei
Loktionov explained to Nezavisimaya Gazeta that YABLOKO
had claims against 170 out of the total 225 district
electoral commissions.
YABLOKO
Goes to Court seeking the annulment of the results
of the State Duma elections
By Anastasya Matveyeva
Gazeta, March 11,
2004
The YABLOKO party challenged the official results
of the December 7, 2003 parliamentary elections as
soon as they were announced. YABLOKO also said that
it would file lawsuits. Suits were filed with regional
courts and the Supreme Court yesterday. YABLOKO cited
a comparison of the data in 14,065 protocols from
observers against the figures provided by the Central
Electoral Commission.
YABLOKO
rolls to courts
The party seeks to invalidate parliamentary elections
in 170 constituencies
By Viktor Khamrayev
Kommersant,
March 11, 2004
The liberal YABLOKO party filed a series of lawsuits
demanding the invalidation of the results in December's
State Duma elections in 170 out of Russia's 225 constituencies.
YABLOKO failed to gain the five percent of the vote
required for parties to get party list representation
in the Duma and had only three deputies elected from
their constituencies.
YABLOKO challenges Duma election results in court
By Ilya Zhegulyov
Gazeta.ru, March
11, 2004
The liberal YABLOKO party has filed 78 lawsuits
contesting the results of last December's State Duma
elections. The party wants the results in 170 of Russia's
225 constituencies annulled after independent observers
detected over 430,000 violations in the work of the
regional election commissions.
Liberal
leaders positive on Yabloko's court move
Gazeta.ru, March
10, 2004
Commenting on Yabloko's legal attempt to annul the
results of last December's parliamentary elections,
the party's leader Grigory Yavlinsky said he could
not say anything about its prospects. "According to
the data we have obtained, there were very serious
and significant violations in the vote-counting and
we think that this case will be taken seriously,"
he said.
Election
Fraud
The Central Electoral Commission responds to Duma
election complaints
By Orkhan Dzhemal, Novaya Gazeta, March 11, 2004
Three days from now, the presidential
election will be over - and the Central Electoral
Commission (CEC) is bound to receive numerous complaints
of unfairness. Meanwhile, the CEC has only just completed
investigating complaints received after the parliamentary
elections.
The
YABLOKO party seeking annulment of the Duma election
in 170 constituencies.
By Natalya Panshina, ITAR-TASS, March 10, 2004
Russian liberal party Yabloko has filed lawsuits to
revoke the results of the voting in last December's
parliamentary election in 170 constituencies out of
the country's total 225, Sergei Loktionov, Yabloko's
press secretary said Wednesday.
Yabloko
files lawsuits concerning 2003 Duma elections.
ITAR-TASS, March 10, 2004
Alexander Veshnyakov, head of the Russian Central
Electoral Commission, told the Ekho Moskvy radio on
Wednesday that theYabloko party didn't stand a chance
to win its lawsuits concerning the results of the
parliamentary elections in Russia if its accusations
are based on the same materials that the Russian Central
Electoral Commission studied earlier.
Putin's
Main Rival Is Apathy
By GUY CHAZAN, Wall Street Journal, March 11, 2004
Grigory Yavlinsky, leader of the liberal Yabloko party,
which suffered a crushing defeat in December's Duma
elections, says voting would mean supporting the regime
Mr. Putin has created -- "an authoritarian political
system where the press, secret services, elections,
Parliament and business are all controlled from one
room."
Paper:
Tallies Get Changed
The Moscow Times, March 12, 2004
Three months ago, the Communists submitted a complaint
accusing the Central Elections Commission of certifying
falsified results, saying their vote tally from the
notarized protocols gathered by party observers at
polling stations did not square with the declared
results. Similar complaints were raised by Yabloko
and the Union of Right Forces, but all the complaints
were dismissed.
Russian
Human Rights Groups Decry Vote.
By Maria Danilova, Associated Press, March 10, 2004
The election "can be compared to a soccer game,
which has no goal, no ball and no field - just the
score on the scoreboard, and you are being invited
to watch the score," said Grigory Yavlinsky,
leader of the liberal Yabloko party.
YABLOKO
Intends to Take Electoral Commissions to Courts The
Party continues its parallel count of the votes
By Ksenia Veretennikova, Vremya Novostei, February
27, 2004
"It is obvious already now that the results of
the elections were distorted, and that YABLOKO was
deprived of votes, while votes were added to United
Russia’s total," said Mitrokhin.
The
Central Electoral Commission: No Grounds for Doubting
the Elections Results
RIA "Novosti", February 25, 2004
Veshnyakov told journalists that the heads and members
of the local electoral commissions who neglected their
duties and were careless during the vote counting,
"are no longer working there."
Elections
2003: Dead Souls Overcame the Five Per Cent Barrier.
Over 3.5 million false ballot papers were added
By Orkhan Dzhemal, Novaya Gazeta, January 29, 2004
On January 26, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe (PACE) delivered its verdict on Russia's
parliamentary elections. The verdict was as follows:
"Free, but not fair."... It's not entirely
clear what the PACE meant by saying the elections
were "free."
Free,
but Not Fair
By Olga Redichkina, Gazeta.ru, January 27, 2004
This is how Europe is expected to describe the elections
in Russia.
State
Duma prefers misers
By Aliya Samigullina, Gazeta.ru, January 28, 2004
The Central Electoral Commission and the Bank of Russia
have released the financial results of the State Duma
elections. It turned out that the SPS, which failed
to make it into the Duma, spent the most on its electoral
campaign.
Yabloko
Party to Appeal to Court over Violations in Parliamentary
Elections
Trud, January 22, 2004
The Communist party reportedly conducted a parallel
vote-counting and announced that both Yabloko and
the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) parties had overcome
the necessary barrier (5%) and that two-thirds of
the protocols used in the election’s state automated
system had no legal force.
Zyuganov
and Yavlinsky Will Meet in Court with United Russia
By Rustem Falyakhov and Denis Yermakov, Gazeta, January
22, 2004
Until the end of the week YABLOKO and the CPRF will
sign an agreement and begin work over an application
to the Supreme Court. The parties seek to secure a
revision of the results of the parliamentary elections
held in December 2003.
Did
We All Vote So Amicably?
By Orkhan Jemal, Novaya Gazeta, January 19, 2004
At the end of last week representatives from the YABLOKO
Party confirmed that their party was ready to contest
in court the results of the [parliamentary] elections.
Their vote recount, an alternative to that of the
Central Electoral Commission, demonstrated that in
reality YABLOKO obtained 6% and the SPS 5.12% of the
votes.
YABLOKO
Party to Contest Parliamentary Election Results
RIA "OREANDA", January 19, 2004
In addition the party confirmed its intention not
to announce any candidate for the RF Presidential
Elections planned for March 14, 2004.
YABLOKO
will contest the results of parliamentary elections
Grigory Yavlinsky's website, January 19, 2004
The YABLOKO party is going to contest in court the
results of the parliamentary elections which took
place on December 7, 2003. The party thinks that the
public should be informed about incidents of election
fraud, and those responsible for the falsification
of the results of the elections should be punished.
Yabloko
Defiant in Wrap-up of December Vote Results
Rosbalt, January 18, 2003
Yabloko, the political party, has issued a stinging
critique of the Russian political system, a Rosbalt
reporter was told by the party's press service after
a meeting of the party's national presidium wound
up very late Thursday night.
YABLOKO
says Duma elections were rigged, threatens to go to
court
Gazeta.Ru, January 16, 2004
The liberal YABLOKO party intends to file a lawsuit
in connection with numerous violations committed at
the recent State Duma elections.
YABLOKO
will prove in court that "votes were stolen" at the
parliamentary elections
Gzt.Ru, January 16, 2004
"Within one or two months we shall finalise the
work - the analysis of protocols of electoral commissions
- and shall accumulate an ample critical mass of protocols
to conduct the fight in court," said Ivanenko
on Ekho Moskvi radio station.
More
candidates appear
IA MiK, January 15, 2004
Chairman of Sverdlovsk regional branch of the Russian
Democratic Party YABLOKO Yuri Kuznetsov has proposed
himself as candidate for the [by-elections]of deputies
of the State Duma in Verkh-Isetskiy single-mandate
electoral district No 162.
The
state comes first for Vladimir Putin
Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky by Claudia von Salzen,
Tagesspiegel, January 12, 2004
All elements of society are concentrated in the same
hands which resemble the 1930s. This is a semi-Soviet
system.
Yavlinsky
Fears Totalitarian Slide
Reuters, January 12, 2004
Yavlinsky, speaking Thursday evening, said Russia
has effectively reverted to a Soviet-style one-party
parliament after the December elections. The pro-Kremlin
United Russia party controls two-thirds of seats in
the State Duma, and Yavlinsky said the other three
parties there were indistinguishable from it on all
major issues.
Grigory
Yavlinsky: A Western type of democracy will win in
Russia in 20-25 years
By Igor Deyev, ITAR-TASS, January 9, 2004
Yavlinsky stressed that the views of his party on
the variants of economic and domestic political developments
of the country "considerably differ" from
the point of view of the present Russian leadership
that "has been trying to create an inefficient
system of state capitalism."
Grigory
Yavlinsky: a Potyomkin village has been systematically
built in Russia.
Novaya Gazeta, December 25, 2003
The reason is that elections have ceased to be even
relatively democratic - honest, equal, or fair. With
no judiciary independent from the administration,
no independent mass media, no independent sources
of funding, there cannot be real political competition
- and that is the essence of elections.
The
Kremlin gets loyal lawmakers and business gets reliable
lobbyists
By Vitaly Ivanov, Vedomosti, December 30, 2003
It is hard to say now what the Kremlin was really
aiming to achieve when it sought absolute control
over the Duma. Experts usually list four factors as
possible motives. Firstly...
In
Russia, Everything Is Just Getting Started
Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky, Vedomosti, December
29, 2003
...it turned out to be exceptionally difficult to
demonstrate that there is a difference between real
democrats and those who only call themselves democrats.
For example, people think Boris Yeltsin was the main
democrat. And it's been impossible to explain that
he wasn't a democrat at all.
Grigory
Yavlinsky: You Cannot Raise Funds for the Campaign
Without the Consent of the Regime
By Mikhail Vinogradov, Izvestia, December 24, 2003
Grigory Yavlinsky - leader of the Yabloko party,
which is not represented in the new Duma - will not
take part in the presidential race. In this interview,
the Yabloko leader explains the reasons for his decision.
Yavlinsky doesn't view this as a disaster; he intends
to try to preserve and strengthen his party, looking
ahead to the next elections.
Yabloko
won't take part in presidential elections
RosBusinessConsulting, December 22, 2003
The Yabloko party will not nominate its candidate
for the presidential elections in March 2004, because
it believes that, in the present political situation
in Russia, fair and equal elections are impossible,
Grigory Yavlinsky, the leader of Yabloko, said after
the party's congress at the weekend.
YABLOKO
to boycott 2004 presidential elections
RIA "Novosti", December 21, 2003
"The party will not nominate a presidential candidate,"
Yavlinsky reported after the Yabloko congress. Previously
the Yabloko leader had been nominated for the presidency
three times.
YABLOKO
decides not to nominate any candidate for presidency
By Natalya Panshina, ITAR-TASS, December 21, 2003
Yavlinsky stressed that the party's main task for
the next four years would be the formation of "a
large impressive democratic party" which would
operate outside the legislature as "a democratic
opposition".
Demoralised
Russian liberals boycott presidential race
AFP, December 21, 2003
The walkout by liberal forces is likely to be embarassing
for Putin, affecting the international legitimacy
of the poll, but analysts say the two small parties
themselves will suffer the most from their political
exclusion.
Differences
in Arithmetic between the YABLOKO party and the Central
Electoral Commission
Interview with Galina Mikhalyova, Head of the Analytical
Department of YABLOKO by Olga Kitova, Russkiy Kurier,
December 19, 2003
In any case, we are already convinced that the count
was not fair.
Communists
and Yabloko call into question the voting results.
ITAR-TASS, December 19, 2003
December 19 (Itar-Tass) - On Friday the Central Electoral
Commission of the Russian Federation officially summed
up and validated the results of the December 7th Duma
elections.
Communist
Party Wants 11 Recounts
The Moscow Times, December 19, 2003
Communist officials said their alternative tally,
based on voting protocols taken from 93.1 percent
of polling stations together with Yabloko and the
Union of Right Forces, revealed discrepancies in dozens
of polling stations.
The
United Russia as a Collective Putin of the Duma
By Pavel Voshchanov, Novaya Gazeta, December 18, 2003
The victorious centrists, who (for ideological considerations,
of course) cannot move a single step away from the
Kremlin, suddenly threw up their hands and cried out
in grief: Oh dear, however did we end up with this
imbalance?! And they immediately set about planning
to rebuild the right-wing liberal movement in Russia.
Fair
game: Communists and YABLOKO question the parliamentary
election results
By Orkhan Dzhemal, Novaya Gazeta, December 18, 2003
Sergei Mitrokin, one of Yabloko party's leaders, has
stated that according to available information, Yabloko
did cross the 5% threshold in the Duma elections -
but the party's vote total was artificially lowered
just enough to prevent it from getting into the Duma.
3
Parties Consider Boycotting Election
By Simon Saradzhyan, The Moscow Times, December 18,
2003
Leaders of the liberal and communist opposition said
Wednesday that they may form a rather unusual alliance
to boycott the March presidential election, which
incumbent President Vladimir Putin is widely expected
to win in a first round.
Democrats
Set To Hang Together
Mikhail Zadornov in an interview with Dmitry DOKUCHAEV,
Moscow News, December 18, 2003
Mr. Zadornov talks about his partys dismal performance
and the democrats strategy in the new Duma
Young,
Educated and 'Against All'
By Anna Dolgov, The Moscow Times, December 18, 2003
In the vote for single-mandate candidates, where choice
in each district was limited to representatives of
only a handful of parties competing for State Duma
seats, the vote "against all" was substantially
higher than in party-list balloting.
Tricks
of Vote-Fixing Trade
By Boris Kagarlitsky, The Moscow Times, December 18,
2003
But where the elections themselves are concerned,
Stalin's inspired principle remains in force: The
important thing is not how they vote but how we count.
Who
Is Mr. Putin: Successor or Reformer?
By Alexei Pankin, The Moscow Times, December 16, 2003
Television coverage of the election was not objective
and the government machine once more played its part,
yet because the outcome was guaranteed by Putin's
popularity, this election was marred by far fewer
excesses than in years past.
YABLOKO
to determine the format of its participation in the
presidential elections on December 19-20
RIA "Novosti", December 16, 2003
Earlier, Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky spoke about
the talks with the Union of Right-Wing Forces on the
nomination of a single candidate. The presidential
elections are scheduled for March 14.
Liberals
Got to Get Their Act Together
Editorial, The Moscow Times, December 15, 2003
The evidence is that a large section of the liberal-minded
electorate chose either not to vote at all or voted
against all, because they were so disillusioned or
disgusted with the spinelessness and vacillation of
the two parties. The liberal electorate according
to various estimates is 15 percent to 20 percent.
New
or Old Russia?
By Andrew Kuchins, The Moscow Times, December 15,
2003
Nobody really expected that both of the real liberal
democratic parties, Yabloko and the Union of Right
Forces, would fall short of the 5 percent threshold
needed for party representation in the Duma. Similarly
nobody really expected that the most nationalist parties,
LDPR and Rodina, would between them garner more than
20 percent of the vote.
Liberals
Face Tough Trade-Off in Duma
By Caroline McGregor and Oksana Yablokova, The Moscow
Times, December 15, 2003
The seven deputies from the Union of Right Forces
and Yabloko know they have to fight for influence
in a State Duma where they are massively outnumbered.
In deciding which alliances are in their interest,
they face a tough trade-off between pragmatism and
principles.
Sergei
Mitrokhin demands annulment of the voting results
in the Babushinsky electoral district of Moscow
Rosbalt, December 11, 2003
"After we received the signals on these multiple
violations, the commission began releasing information
that Shirokov was the leader of the election, noted
Mitrokhin. - YABLOKO thinks that the results of the
election were falsified and should be annulled, and
that a new vote should be carried out."
Civil
Rights Advocates Rue Duma
By Irina Titova, St Peterburg Times, December 11,
2003
"If the election results were falsified - then
we'll have to fight," Grigoryants said. "If
not then we'll be facing up to long and hard work
with the souls of those people who've been indifferent
to what's going on."
A
Funeral For Russian Democracy
By Vladimir Kovalyev, St Peterburg Times, December
11, 2003
A big and, maybe the best part of the population,
the intelligentsia, young free-minded people - literally
millions of Russian citizens supporting basic democratic
values - were thrown aside by a crowd of the blind
majority that was so easily "managed" and
ready to do whatever it was told to do.
Communists
Say Vote Count 'a Scam'
By Anatoly Medetsky and Francesca Mereu, St Peterburg
Times, December 11, 2003
"We can't accept the results of a vote that is
100 percent a scam. We're demanding a recount of the
ballots by hand," Zyuganov said at a news conference.
Communists
say Duma vote was rigged
Gazeta.ru, December 10, 2003
According to the results of the parallel count of
votes carried out by the Communist Party observers,
approximately 1.5 per cent was stolen from both YABLOKO
and the Union of Right-Wing Forces. The Motherland
bloc also lost around 1 per cent during the relay
of the results from the voting to Moscow, although
this loss wasn't as critical for Sergei Glazyev and
Dmitry Rogozin as it was for the liberals.
Communist
Party's calculations indicate that Yabloko actually
entered the State Duma
RIA "OREANDA", December 10, 2003
The simultaneous counting is still being carried on,
but it is already clear from the data that have been
obtained that the Yabloko Party passed the 5% threshold,
collecting 5.7% of votes. The alternative figure indicating
voter participation also differs from the official
figures.
Grigory
Yavlinsky on National-Socialism in Russia
RIA "OREANDA", December 10, 2003
"National socialism is a great overstatement.
I do not think that this could happen in the Russian
Federation", Yavlinsky stated at a press conference
on 9 December 2003.
Grigory
Yavlinsky: the main task of YABLOKO is to keep the
party
Press release, December 9, 2003
“In these circumstances YABLOKO’s main
task should be the preservation of the party, reflecting
the interests of the millions of the electorate who
voted for our party at the elections,” said
Yavlinsky at a press conference on Tuesday, 9 December
2003.
Grigory
Yavlinsky thinks that national-socialism does not
threaten Russia
Press release, December 9, 2003
At the same time Yavlinsky admitted that there was
a danger of nationalism in Russia. “What is
more, the danger of nationalism exists in many European
countries and in many other countries of the world,”
said YABLOKO’s leader.
Grigory
Yavlinsky thinks that political technologists played
a negative role in the election campaign
Press release, December 9, 2003
"Political technologists put the country into
a historically embarrassing situation. The development
of democracy involves specific processes as does its
curbing; and everyone promoting the second process
should remember: you cannot reverse the milking of
a cow," said Yavlinsky at a press conference
on Tuesday, 9 December 2003.
Absence
of the Union of Right-Wing Forces and YABLOKO from
State Duma toAffect the Economic Reforms
RIA "OREANDA", December 9, 2003
The absence of representatives from the Union of Right-Wing
Forces and the YABLOKO party will have an ambiguous
impact on the economic reforms of the country.
Communists
Accuse United Russia of Counterfeiting the Parliamentary
Poll
RIA "OREANDA", December 9, 2003
The Russian Communist Party (KPRF) accuses United
Russia bloc of counterfeiting the parliamentary poll
regarding the "Yabloko" bloc and the Union
of Right-Wing Forces (SPS).
YABLOKO
Doubts Duma Poll returns
RIA "Novosti", December 9, 2003
Yavlinsky criticised the pre-election campaign. "The
ruling party had sixteen times more air time on the
television than YABLOKO," he pointed out.
Why
Liberals Did Not Lose The Elections
By Yulia Latynina, Moscow Times, December 10, 2003
For huge numbers of Russians, however, democracy remains
a prized ideal. The "none of the above"
party took 4.8 percent of the vote on Sunday, and
it was supported by democrats. Voters in favor of
a strong hand and Holy Rus had plenty of parties to
choose from. The democrats had no choice whatsoever.
Yavlinsky
Doggedly Promises to Soldier On
By Oksana Yablokova, Moscow Times, December 10, 2003
"We will have to build a party that will be able
to work outside parliament," Yavlinsky said.
"That will be quite a difficult and unusual thing
to do."
Putin
Revels in Election; Others See Flaws
By Steven Lee Myers, NYTimes, December 9, 2003
"We now have, again, a one-party Parliament,"
said Mr. Yavlinsky, who leads Yabloko and has been
the public face of Russia's democrats for the last
decade. "Russia has had no such Parliament since
Brezhnev."
Veteran
Russian liberal says election was rigged
By Andrei Shukshin, Reuters, December 9, 2003
The leader of Russia's liberal Yabloko party Grigory
Yavlinsky accused the Kremlin on Tuesday of rigging
the results of last week's parliament vote but said
no legal action would ever succeed in the country's
courts.
Results
of elections in the CIS and foreign countries
ITAR-TASS, December 8, 2003
MOSCOW. Four or five candidates running in one-seat
constituencies from the Union of Right-Wing Forces
and YABLOKO will get seats in the new Duma. YABLOKO
leader Grigory Yavlinsky did not run in a one-seat
constituency and his colleague Vladimir Lukin, who
was deputy speaker in the previous Duma, lost in the
elections. YABLOKO candidates who were elected are
Sergei Popov, Mikhail Zadoronov, Galina Khovanskaya
and Mikhail Yemelyanov.
Chubais
predicts dark times
By Ilya Zhegulev, gazeta.ru, December 8, 2003
An alliance with YABLOKO still remains one of the
priority tasks on the SPS agenda, Chubais said. However,
the YABLOKO leader Grigory Yavlinsky on Sunday evening
again ruled out any form of alliance with the SPS.
Only
three Yabloko members win Duma seats
Interfax, December 8, 2003
Only three members of Yabloko have managed to enter
the State Duma after winning single-mandate districts
in yesterday's elections, said Yevgenia Dillendorf,
press secretary for Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky
Alternative
vote count: YABLOKO and SPS make it into the Duma
By Asya Ryazanova, Utro.ru, December 8, 2003
So the data from the CPRF (on the party web-site during
the whole post-election night) demonstrate a picture
which somewhat differs from that provided by the Central
Electoral Commission, slightly, and not in the CPRF
part, as one could presume, but in the part of YABLOKO
and SPS. According to independent observers, these
two parties obtained more than the required five per
cent by at least 0.5 per cent. This is a small thing,
but this changed the division of forces in the lower
chamber of the Russian parliament in principle. How
do you like this?
Putin's
Victory
By Vitaly Ivanov, Svetlana Ivanova and Alexander Bekker,
Vedomosti, December 9, 2003
Yesterday, YABLOKO leader Grigory Yavlinsky looked
very confident. He didn't miss any opportunity to
say that YABLOKO "is ready to take responsibility
for democratic forces in the new Duma."
United
Russia, Rodina, YABLOKO preferred by voters in Moscow
ITAR-TASS, December 8, 2003
The following are the results of the elections to
the State Duma in Moscow after 95 percent of the ballot
papers were counted.
Putin
Calls Elections Fair Despite Observers' Criticism
By Steven Lee Myers, NYTimes, December 8, 2003
Two groups that sent election observers, the Council
of Europe and the Organization of Security and Cooperation
in Europe, said in a report that the results also
reflected "the extensive use of the state apparatus
and media favoritism to benefit the largest pro-presidential
party."
Gorbachev
warns Russia's leaders against "Soviet Communist-type
situation"
AFP, December 8, 2003
The former Communist leader attributed United Russia's
success to "a certain tendency to the consolidation
of society" and to "the enormous role of
the use of administrative levers."
Denunciation
swift, celebration muted after Russian poll
AFP, December 8, 2003
"The administration has greatly affected the
election's outcome," agreed liberal Yabloko leader
party leader Grigory Yavlinsky.
TABLE-Russian
election results at 1200 GMT
Reuters, December 8, 2003
A party needs to get at least five percent of the
vote to win seats in the Duma. Votes won by parties
that fail to cross the threshold are divided between
the winners.
Complaints
of Fraud And Ballot Stuffing
By Catherine Belton and Timur Aliev, The Moscow Times,
December 8, 2003
"At this polling station only 200 people voted,
or about 10 percent," said Ruslan Khadashev,
an observer for single-mandate independent candidate
Salambek Maigov. "I don't know where they got
70 percent from."
Singular
TV Diet on Election Day
By Anna Dolgov, The Moscow Times, December 8, 2003
Judging by the two channels' coverage, a viewer unfamiliar
with Russian politics might not even be aware that
other parties, such as liberal opposition Yabloko
and the pro-reform Union of Right Forces, or SPS,
were running in the election.
United
Russia Grabs a Gigantic Lead
By Caroline McGregor, The Moscow Times, December 8,
2003
If United Russia's striking margin of victory was
the top story of the day, the strength of two nationalist
parties, Liberal Democratic Party of Russia and Homeland,
was the second. The weakness of the liberals, the
Union of Right Forces and Yabloko, was the third.
Russian
Politics: "No News Is Good News"
Grigory Yavlinsky, head of the opposition Yabloko
Party, Business Week, December 8, 2003
It's certainly necessary to do a lot of positive things,
but they can't be done at the moment. They can be
done only after the Presidential election -- if the
President is prepared to move in this direction.
United
Russia Party has aclear lead after 7.59 per cent of
the votes are counted.
ITAR-TASS, December 7, 2003
Central Electoral Commission officials said at the
same time the progress of vote counting from the Far
East towards the European regions of Russia revealed
a growing percentage of the ballots cast against all
candidates.
YABLOKO:
The Central Electioral Commission did OK in the pre-election
campaign.
RIA "Novosti", December 7, 2003
The Central Election Commission was, on the whole,
a success with preparing grounds for pre-election
campaigning and the actual campaign, says the democratic
political party, YABLOKO.
Veteran
Russian liberal says election was rigged
By Natalya Panshina, ITAR-TASS, December 5, 2003
Russia's right-wing parties, the SPS and Yabloko and
the Communist Party have agreed to jointly monitor
progress in the voting when Russia on Sunday, December
7 will be electing the lower house of parliament.
Television
Newscasts Give Kremlin a Boost
By Anna Dolgov, The Moscow Times, December 5, 2003
President Vladimir Putin has said on a number of occasions
that he would like to see United Russia win the Duma
elections, and praised the party again in a lengthy
interview that aired on all three main channels last
Friday.
All-Out
Battle for Presidency in Ufa
By Alex Fak, The Moscow Times, December 5, 2003
"Putin does not care what happens here,"
said Eduard Khusnutdinov, a former opposition journalist
and a Duma candidate with Yabloko.
Why
Duma Elections Do Matter
Editorial, The Moscow Times, December 5, 2003
An overwhelming victory for United Russia (with a
roughly commensurate drop in the Communist vote) would
be taken by the Kremlin as complete legitimization
of its actions over the past four years.
Yabloko,
SPS, Communists Team Up
The Moscow Times, December 4, 2003
"Authoritarian tendencies are growing stronger
in the country. An analysis of the election campaign
shows that equal opportunities are not being provided
to all candidates," the parties said in a statement.
Almost
22% of Russian Citizens Hesitate over Choice of Political
Party during Forthcoming Elections
RIA "Oreanda", November 28, 2003
According to the Social Opinion Fund, this information
was obtained from a poll of the population in 200
cities in 63 Russian regions.
Stop
Elbowing!
By Georgy Ilyichev, Izvestia, November 28, 2003
Galina Mikhalyova, head of YABLOKO's analytical center,
couldn't restrain herself: "It is strange to
be forced to tell this audience, for the 225th time,
that the SPS and YABLOKO are different parties, with
different voters and different positions.
St.
Petersburg Governor and YABLOKO Will Fight Corruption
Together
By Yelena Rotkevich, Izvestia, November 28, 2003
Yavlinsky held several meetings in St. Petersburg
on November 26; his conversation with Matviyenko lasted
one-and-a-half hours rather than the scheduled 30
minutes, focusing primarily on cooperation between
the party and the new municipal administration, as
well as joint efforts to "overcome the bane of
corruption" which has taken shape in St. Petersburg
in recent years.
Russian
election video for Yabloko
BBC Monitoring, ORT Channel, November 26, 2003
"...I said: Yes, Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin], about
90 per cent of Russian voters vote for you - it is
true - and only 10 per cent for me. But these 10 per
cent are so valuable that without them your 90 per
cent will not be able to do anything."
Russia's
gloomy lawmakers admit decade of Kremlin domination
AFP, December 3, 2003
Arbatov said he had few doubts that Putin's aides
were orchestrating the election's results and brushed
aside suggestions that Russia has made major progress
toward a Western-style democracy since the Soviet
Union's collapse in 1991.
Yukos
Takes a Bite Out of Yabloko's Party List
By Francesca Mereu, The Moscow Times, December 3,
2003
Yabloko, like the Communist Party, has a stable core
of support. The bulk of its electorate is composed
of well-educated people who believe in democracy and
a market economy but have been left behind by the
changes of the past decade.
From
High Drama To Rubber Stamping
By Anna Dolgov, The Moscow Times, December 3, 2003
"It is clear to everybody that the Duma is controlled
by the Kremlin," said Nikolai Petrov, a domestic
politics analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center.
The
Parties to Keep an Eye On
The Moscow Times, December 2, 2003
These lists represent the nine parties that have the
best chance of securing seats in the next State Duma.
Putin
Rivals, Observers Charge Election Tactics Are Unfair
By Gregory L. White, Wall Street Journal, December
2, 2003
The Kremlin is pushing hard to boost its support in
the lower house of parliament. Government officials
insist the push is aimed at easing the passage of
President Vladimir Putin's program of economic and
other overhauls
Liberal
Candidates Suffer "Administrative" Pressures
By Vladimir Kovalev, St. Petersburg Times, December
2, 2003
Irina Khakamada, Union of Right Forces co-leader and
a candidate in the St. Petersburg electoral district
No. 209, and Anatoly Golov, Yabloko's candidate in
the No. 210 district, on Monday complained they face
serious administrative pressure in the election campaign.
The
Elections and the Great Schism
By Stanislav Belkovsky, The Moscow Times, December
2, 2003
As election day approaches and media attention grows,
it is becoming increasingly apparent that the State
Duma elections are a political non-event. Why?
Deputies
Pass Raft of Bills on Duma's Last Day
By Anna Dolgov, The Moscow Times, December 1, 2003
In the chamber, which emptied through the day as deputies
left to go on the campaign stump, a handful of opposition
lawmakers were drowned out by a chorus of self-congratulation
from pro-Kremlin lawmakers.
Yavlinsky
Slams Kremlin Stance
By Irina Titova, St.Petersburg Times, November 28,
2003
"The government should be interested in having
an independent legislative organ," he said. "Otherwise,
it will lead to weakening of the Russian power."
Internet
Resources in English
Editor: Henry E. Hale, RUSSIAN ELECTION WATCH, Vol.3,
No.2, November 2003
While most parties have little or no information in
English, Yabloko regularly translates party documents
and press releases as well as campaign-related news
stories it considers of interest to readers.
Communists
pull out of "Fair Election" agreement
RosBusinessConsulting, November 28, 2003
The Communist Party of the Russian Federation is pulling
out of the "Fair Election" agreement, which
was signed in August by all political parties and
blocs taking part in the election campaign (except
the Yabloko party), Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov
told reporters.
Russia
Pro - Government Party Seen Gaining
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, NYTimes, November 27, 2003
Grigory Yavlinsky, who heads the liberal Yabloko party,
warned in St. Petersburg that the government is trying
to create "a tamed Duma with an obedient majority.
Pro-Kremlin
Russian party boosts lead before vote
Reuters, November 25, 2003
The poll of 6,000 people in three Russian cities by
the state-run VTsIOM agency put United Russia in the
lead with 32.7 percent, ahead of the Communist Party
on 14.3 percent. The elections are to be held on December
7.
The
Triumph of United Russia: It wins a pseudo-election
By Vitaly Voronin and Anfisa Voronina, Vedomosti,
November 25, 2003
Grigory Yavlinsky, who heads the liberal Yabloko party,
warned in St. Petersburg that the government is trying
to create "a tamed Duma with an obedient majority.
The
Union of Right-Wing Forces Splitting Over YABLOKO
By Yaroslav Rodionov, Noviye Izvestia, November 24,
2003
...it appears that Chubais completely gave up on any
idea of a union - and is now revising SPS strategy
towards confrontation with YABLOKO. However, Nemtsov
and Khakamada take the opposite view.
Brain
Navigators
By Irina Nagornykh, Suzanna Farizova and Yuri Chernega,
Kommersant-Vlast, November 17, 2003
According to Ivanenko, it is more difficult to carry
out an election campaign for YABLOKO than for others,
primarily owing to a lack of funding.
Zhirinovsky
Gets Into Fistfight After Televised Election Debate
The Moscow Times, November 24, 2003
Tensions rose on NTV's the "Freedom of Speech"
talk show when Zhirinovsky, the leader of the Liberal
Democratic Party, accused retired General Gennady
Shpak of the leftist Homeland party of sending his
own son to his death by allowing him to fight in Chechnya.
"Russian
economic miracle. Will it ever happen?"
Anchor: Savvik Shuster, NTV channel, "Freedom of Speech"
programme, November 21, 2003
Yavlinsky says Russia's people need a "strong
state that serves its citizens" rather than the
state based on "bandit capitalism" they
have at present with no independent judiciary or legislature
and no free media.
Russia's
democrats fall from influence
By Susan B. Glasser, Washington Post, November 19,
2003
Parliament would be left dominated by a pro-government
party whose only campaign pledge is to stick close
to President Vladimir Putin and a Communist Party
consumed by nostalgia for the Soviet Union.
Russian
politicians seek Zhirinovsky ban after brawl
By Andrei Shukshin, Reuters, November 23, 2003
"Decent people feel nothing but loathing and
disgust for all this," Nemtsov, who had a glass
of orange juice tossed in his face by Zhirinovsky
in a mid-1990s debate, told Ekho Moskvy.
Tricks,
Lies and Zyuganov's Head on a Bust
By Kevin O'Flynn, The Moscow Times, November 12, 2003
They're off. Four days into the official State Duma
election season, the first low blow has been thrown
in a campaign predicted to be chock-full of dirty
tricks, fake candidates, bribery, blackmail, misinformation,
lies and insults.
Funny
Elections, Kremlin uses "administrative resource"
By Stanislav Menshikov, Moscow Tribune, November 21,
2003
Russian "democracy" has invented a new term
to define an ancient practice. The term is "administrative
resource" and it means using the government machine
and its financial resources at all levels to gain
advantage over the opposition in formally free elections.
Political
Scientists Gather at Round Table at the Open Forum
Valery Kazakov and Sergei Zalesski, Argumenty i Fakty,
November 19, 2003
Depending on the results of the Duma elections, a
structure of the parliament will be formed that the
president will have to deal with and that will serve
as the basis for his policy", claims Ivanenko.
Who
Devised the SPS "military doctrine"?
By Orkhan Dzemal, Novaya Gazeta, November 17, 2003
"...On the other hand, I do not rule out the
possibility that some third force may be involved.
We will see after the election who got whose votes."
Russian
journalists to list would-be MPs according to their
stance on media freedom
Rossiyskaya Gazeta, November 12, 2003
A long-forgotten word from the Soviet era was revived
yesterday: nakaz or "wish list".
Sergei
Mitrokhin accused RAO "UES of Russia" of financing
the SPS and intending to embroil the SPS and YABLOKO.
Rosbalt, November 4, 2003
According to Mitrokhin, fake candidates, former activists
of "Yabloko Without Yavlinsky" movement
are standing against YABLOKO in single-mandate electoral
districts.
Russia's
Democrats Face Prospect of Irrelevance
By Susan B. Glasser, Washington Post, November 14,
2003
A decade ago, Yavlinsky founded Yabloko as a vehicle
meant to place the young economist in the presidency,
with backing from the coalition of former dissidents,
liberal intellectuals and other activists who had
helped spur the Soviet collapse.
SPS
Attacks on YABLOKO attributed to Election Campaign
RIA-Novosti, November 13, 2003
"We shall continue cooperating with the SPS,
for instance, we have appointed single-mandate candidates
and engaged in active cooperation in the State Duma
of this convocation and hope to continue it in the
next State Duma," Ivanenko said.
Wealth:
wild card in Russian election
By Fred Weir, Christian Science Monitor, November
13, 2003
"Previously hidden conflicts have emerged into
the open, and now there is a real issue to fight the
election on: Will Russia slide back into a police
state or turn decisively toward the European model
of democracy and human rights."
Radio
Mayak broadcast of a live election debate between
Yabloko and the Constitutional Democrats
Anchor: Yuli Semyonov, BBC Monitoring, November 11,
2003
Ivanenko said that people should be more alert to
what the parties actually do rather than listen to
their promises.
Russia
Enters Election Season Split Over Future of Capitalism
By Peter Baker, Washington Post, November 8, 2003
On the anniversary of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution,
Russia formally opened its parliamentary election
season Friday amid a vigorous debate about the future
of capitalism in this country in transition.
Elite
Change, Status Quo Unchanged
By Andrei Ryabov, The Moscow Times, November 6, 2003
The arrest of Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky has hastened
serious changes in the balance of power within the
Russian political establishment -- perhaps the most
profound changes since Vladimir Putin became president.
Chubais
Offers Yavlinsky a Merger
By Oksana Yablokova, The Moscow Times, November 6,
2003
"Both you and I see Russia's return to dictatorship
as a catastrophe. This is the most weighty reason
for the unification," the letter read.
Responsible
for the Constitution
Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky by Alexander Goltz,
Yezhenedelnyi Zhurnal, November 4, 2003
"This is my country. I didn't choose where or
when to be born. But since I'm here, I have to get
as much done as I can. Then other people will come
along to continue the work."
United
Russia Party top election fund-raiser
RIA "OREANDA", November 3, 2003
The aggregate sum of election funds of parties and
coalitions participating in the State Duma election
amounts to 902,129,290.00 rubles, - Central Election
Committee Chairman Alexander Veshnyakov said at a
press conference on Friday.
Putin's
political rating remains high - poll
Interfax, November 2, 2003
VTSIOM-A polled 1,600 people in 40 regions and 100
populated areas on its own initiative from October
24 to 28.
Court
Frees Up Election Coverage
By Caroline McGregor, The Moscow Times, October 31,
2003
The Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled as unconstitutional
one part of the law that restricts media coverage
of election campaigns, and in doing so, gave journalists
more room to do their jobs, critics of the law said.
Parties'
Spending
The Moscow Times, October 30, 2003
Russian parties that will be competing in the upcoming
State Duma elections are running out of their official
campaign funds, Interfax quoted Central Elections
Commission officials as saying.
Putin
looks to Duma to tighten his grip
By Alexander Bim and Kim Iskyan, International Herald
Tribune, October 29, 2003
If strong lobbyist factions - primarily those supported
by some of Russia's oligarchs - carve out a voice
for themselves, the Kremlin will have a much more
difficult time managing the Duma. A strong showing
by the liberal Yabloko faction (which has received
financial support from Khodorkovsky) could interfere
with the Kremlin's plans.
How
to Make People Vote with Their Hearts
By Orkhan Djemal, Novaya Gazeta, October 23, 2003
German researcher Elizabet Noel-Neuman has described
a phenomenon she called "the spiral of silence."
On controversial issues, people tend to fall in with
majority views rather than working out an opinion
of their own; they are even less inclined to side
with minority opinions.
YABLOKO
Says Its Campaign Has Been Hobbled
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, October 24, 2003
After the search, Yabloko party leader Grigory Yavlinsky
said officials in the prosecutor's office were "warned"
that they were taking away documents belonging to
Yabloko
Crackdown
on YUKOS Spills over into Duma Campaign
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, October 24, 2003
Investigators from the Prosecutor-General's Office
and the Federal Security Service (FSB) on 23 October
conducted a raid of the offices of a public-relations
firm that is doing campaign work for the Yabloko party,
Russian media reported.
PR
agency searched in YUKOS probe
Gazeta.ru, October 24, 2003
"The Prosecutor-General's Office and the Federal
Security Service have confiscated documents and electronic
information media, linked to the election campaign
and owned by the Yabloko party." This comes from
a statement issued by the party leader Grigory Yavlinsky.
The document notes that the agency was carrying out
political consultative work for the Yabloko election
campaign.
Yukos
Probe Spills Over to Yabloko
By Catherine Belton and Alex Nicholson, The Moscow
Times, October 24, 2003
The relentless tax investigation into Yukos veered
openly into politics for the first time Thursday as
prosecutors raided a public relations agency hired
by the Yukos-funded liberal Yabloko party, detaining
two of the party's deputies and confiscating five
computer servers.
Prosecutors
search company in Yukos probe
The Associated Press, October 23, 2003
The criminal probe into Yukos is seen in Russia as
a politically motivated warning to chief executive
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, identified by Forbes magazine
as Russia's richest man, to stay out of politics.
Khodorkovsky has openly supported parties in opposition
to the Kremlin and has denounced the probe.
Prosecutors
search Yabloko campaigner's office for YUKOS evidence
Gazeta.ru, October 23, 2003
The Prosecutor General's Office on Thursday searched
the office of the Yabloko party's campaigner, the
Agency for Strategic Communications (ASK).
For
Whom the Election Bell Tolls
By Nikolai Petrov, The Moscow Times, October 23, 2003
With "managed democracy" on the rise, the
authorities are not so concerned about election results
as they are about presenting a facade of decorum.
A
Dozen Parties Face Being Left Out
By Caroline McGregor, The Moscow Times, October 22,
2003
A party that fails to get its federal list registered
can try to win single-mandate seats -- if its candidates
are registered by Wednesday evening. If 12 or more
of a party's members get elected, they can form a
faction in the new Duma, saving the group from political
extinction.
Constitutional
Court To Decide Freedom of Speech Issue
By Dmitry Chirkin, pravda.ru, October 17, 2003
The founder of scientific socialism used to say: "History
repeats itself twice: first as a tragedy, and then
as farce." For the sixth or 56th time, history
repeats itself as unbelievable marasm.
Live
TV debates cause first election scuffle
By Ksenia Solyanskaya, Gazeta.ru, October 17, 2003
On Friday, the State Duma’s deputies are to
review the draft address to the management of two
leading state-run television networks, Channel One,
and Rossia, with the request to broadcast election
debates live.
Plans
for Debates Set Off a Debate
By Caroline McGregor, The Moscow Times, October 17,
2003
Two days after the country's top two national television
stations let it be understood that they would broadcast
taped versions of the upcoming State Duma election
debates, they backpedaled Thursday.
Russia:
Constitutional Court Hears First Cases On Controversial
New Media Law
By Sophie Lambroschini, Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe,
October 15, 2003
In a surprise decision, Russia's Constitutional Court
has agreed to hear four different appeals against
the new legislation brought by three journalists and
more than 100 State Duma deputies.
YABLOKO
Is Ripe for the Elections
By Artyom Vernidub, Gazeta.ru, October 9, 2003
"Informally members of the Central Electoral
Commission praised us for the high quality and rapid
collection of signatures, said Mitrokhin. - This is
the best answer to all those who have tried to show
that our party allegedly had problems with its regional
branches."
Average
popularity figures for Russian political parties
By Alexander Braterski, Izvestia, October 9, 2003
According to the NAPP, if the Duma elections had been
held in September, the United Russia party would have
won the most seats (185), followed by the CPRF (135
seats). YABLOKO and the LDPR would have won 21 seats
each. The SPS would have won 22 seats. Other parties
and independent candidates would have won 66 seats
in single-mandate districts. Based on September polls,
voter turnout would have been 69.2%.
Stick
Without a Carrot
By Daria Gusyeva and Maksim Balutenko, Vremya Novostei,
October 2, 2003
The Monitoring Council for the election campaign is
not functioning yet, but some political parties are
on the verge of recalling their representatives from
this structure.
Russian
media warned under strict new law
By Nick Paton Walsh, The Guardian (UK), October 2,
2003
The weekly magazines Kommersant Vlast and Tverskaya
13 were both served with warnings this week after
they published articles about the Moscow mayoral election.
The
Central Electoral Commission considers the operations
of the "Yabloko Without Yavlinsky" movement
unlawful
Buro Pravovoi Informatsii, September 29, 2003
On Sunday the meeting of the Central Electoral Commission
adopted a decision to agree with the conclusions of
the working group and request that the Interior Ministry
of the RF and the General Office of the Public Prosecutor
abolish the operations of the "Yabloko Without
Yavlinsky" movement and make a number of its
activists answerable for their actions.
The
Central Electoral Commission recognised the "Yabloko
Without Yavlinsky" movement as unlawful election propaganda
Rosbalt, September 29, 2003
The Head of the Central Electoral Commission Alexander
Veshnyakov said that mass media should consider the
illegality of the operations of the "Yabloko
Without Yavlinsky" movement, when reporting on
its activities.
Grigory
Yavlinsky: Russian politics is deliberately being
transformed into a farce
Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky by Tatyana Chesnokova,
Rosbalt, September 25, 2003
"This situation has been deliberately created
to make less and less people engage actively in politics
and lead more and more of the population to readily
accept decision-making on their behalf by third parties".
Sergei
Mitrokhin: "We treat the use of administrative
resource as a natural disaster."
IA Marketing i Consulting, September 22, 2003
Interview with deputy of the State Duma, Deputy Head
of the YABLOKO faction Sergei Mitrokhin about the
position of the YABLOKO party regarding President
Putin's attendance of the United Russian congress.
The
Political Council of the SPS should revise its decision
on the division of electoral districts between SPS
and YABLOKO
Alliance Media, September 22, 2003
"We don't think it is proper to fight against
the SPS in single-mandate districts," stressed
Yavlinsky.
United
Russia Conquers the Air
By Anna Dolgov, The Moscow Times, September 24, 2003
The pro-Kremlin United Russia party is getting by
far the widest and most favorable coverage on all
the major television channels ahead of parliamentary
elections, monitoring conducted by The Moscow Times
over the past week indicates.
100
Deputies Challenge Media Restrictions
By Francesca Mereu, The Moscow Times, September 24,
2003
"We think that they are against the Russian Constitution,
which guarantees freedom in spreading information,"
deputy SPS leader Alexander Barannikov said Tuesday.
Can
Media Cover the Elections?
Editorial, The Moscow Times, September 12, 2003
Presumably, the Kremlin did not shepherd the new legislation
through parliament in order for it to trip up the
president or silence two of the Kremlin's most important
propaganda organs.
MPs
contest new media laws on election coverage
By Fyodor Rumyantsev, Gazeta.ru, September 23, 2003
The Union of Right-Wing Forces has collected signatures
from Yabloko, the Communists and Vladimir Zhirinovsky's
party in support of a complaint to the Constitutional
Court, where they have asked the court to look into
certain provisions of the law on media coverage during
election campaigns, claiming they run counter to the
Constitution.
Putin
welcomes parties to be part of new Russian State Duma
ITAR-TASS, September 21, 2003
On Saturday 20 September when speaking to foreign
media Putin stressed that he would like both the Union
of Right-Wing Forces and Yabloko be part of the new
Duma, as they have carried out positive work for the
lower chamber of the Russian parliament.
What
Women Want: A Seat in the Duma
By Francesca Mereu, The Moscow Times, September 17,
2003
In fact, the percentage of women deputies has been
steadily falling. Fourteen percent of deputies in
the 1993 Duma were women, but this figure shrank to
10 percent in 1995 and just 8 percent in 1999.
'Meet
the press' in Russia meets the new censor
By Fred Weir, Christian Science Monitor, September
16, 2003
It smacks strongly of Soviet times - except that today's
censors are not Communist Party hacks planted in editorial
offices, but the managers of media outlets themselves.
Formation
of electoral political alliances over in Russia
By Natalia Panshina, ITAR-TASS, September 15, 2003
The formation of political alliances for the December
Duma elections, which took almost two weeks since
the beginning of the current electoral campaign, is
now over.
Another
Provocation
Marketing and Consulting, September 11, 2003
Asked to comment, the Press Service of YABLOKO told
us that the party had nothing to do with "Yabloko
Without Yavlinsky" or moreover with such a publication.
Parties
Still Hopeful
Associated Press, September 10, 2003
Russia's two leading liberal parties may still agree
to coordinate their campaigns for the December parliamentary
elections despite the collapse of cooperation talks,
their leaders said Wednesday.
Putin
puts 'Soviet' bar on poll coverage
Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow, Guardian Unlimited, September
9, 2003
The Kremlin has introduced a draconian election law
which threatens the media with closure if they give
details of candidates' personal lives or analyse their
policies.
Chubais
Ready to Lead SPS Into Battle
By Francesca Mereu and Oksana Yablokova, The Moscow
Times, September 9, 2003
"We are the people who get things done,"
Chubais said, drawing a standing ovation from the
SPS delegates.
Party
congresses highlight divisions and cohesion
By Yelena Rudneva and Boris Sapozhnikov, gazeta.ru,
September 8, 2003
At the congress held on September 6-7 Yabloko endorsed
its electoral programme, which contains 11 provisions
and harshly criticizes the existing regime and approved
the party's electoral list.
Prosecutor
General answers Sergei Mitrokhin
Polit.ru, September 3, 2003
As evidence Mitrokhin demonstrated materials that
came from the regions proving that RAO UES was behind
the "Yabloko without Yavlinsky" activities.
Regional
prosecutors will investigate the actions of the "Yabloko
without Yavlinsky" organisation
Rosbalt, September 2, 2003
YABLOKO's press service informed Rosbalt correspondent
that the request referred to "dissemination by
the leader of "Yabloko without Yavlinsky"
movement and some media information defaming the leadership
of the YABLOKO party."
"We'll
arrange the trial of the century for RAO UES"
By Boris Sapozhnikov, gazeta.ru, September 2, 2003
"I cannot believe that Nemtsov and Khakamada
know nothing of PR-campaigns that require such huge
expenses, worthy of being included in the Guinness
Book of Records."
Ambitious
Kokh sets sights on parliament
By Yelena Rudneva, gazeta.ru, September 2, 2003
"He has grown to miss politics very much,"
sources in SPS explained to Gazeta.Ru.
The
11th Congress of the Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO
will take place on September 6-7, 2003 in Moscow.
ABN, September 1, 2003
Chairman of the Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO Grigory
Yavlinsky and other leaders of the party will
make political reports at the Congress.
Honest
Elections in Russia: Myth or Reality?
RIA Novosti, August 28, 2003
The democratic party YABLOKO is the only party which
openly refused to sign the declaration.
As
the Duma election campaign begins, two non-Kremlin
parties have become implacable political rivals.
By Sergei Borisov, Transitions Online, August 25,
2003
Some observers labeled the Elections 2003 forum, aired
on two television national channels on 22 August,
as "political fiction."
Red
Flags and a Big Bear at a Pre-Election Fair
By Francesca Mereu, The Moscow Times, August 25, 2003
Walking into the huge Manezh exhibition hall, where
more than two dozen political parties are holding
a five-day fair to win over the voters, it is clear
how the parliamentary race is shaping up.
The
YABLOKO party will conduct its election campaign strictly
within the framework of the law, promised Grigory
Yavlinsky
Rosbalt, August 21, 2003
The Statement was forwarded to the organisational
committee of the "Elections 2003" Fund and
to the Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission
Alexander Veshnyakov.
On
observing the principles for honest elections in 2003-2004
Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO, Statement, August
20, 2003
In all election campaigns the Russian Democratic Party
YABLOKO has acted exclusively within the framework
of the law and plans to continue doing so in future.
Why
Is the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Centre Being
Broken Up?
By Alexander Golov and Orkhan Jemal, Novaya Gazeta,
August 14, 2003
The authorities haven't liked the ratings it has produced;
in the opinion of the authorities, the ratings have
been incorrect in some way.
Sergei
Mitrokhin expects that Alfred Kokh's statement on
the intentions of the SPS to conduct a tough struggle
against YABLOKO to be disavowed
MK-Novosti, August 12, 2003
"For the first time an official representative
of the SPS openly admitted that this party was going
to fight against YABLOKO"
A
fake 'apple'* has ripened in the country
By Sergei Alexandrov, Komsomolskaya Pravda, August
9, 2003
YABLOKO beat a record among the party victims of the
black PR.
* YABLOKO means 'apple' in Russian.
Liberals
blame Chubais and Kokh for dirty campaign tactics
By Alexander Kolesnichenko, Novye Izvestia, August
8, 2003 (Archive)
Sergei Mitrokhin
maintains that Anatoly Chubais, head of the Russian
United Energy Systems (UES) has allocated $5 million
to discredit Yabloko, and that the anti-Yabloko campaign
is being orchestrated by Alfred Kokh, campaign manager
for the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS).
Maxim
Reznik: There has never been a split in the St. Petersburg
branch of the YABLOKO party
Rosbalt, August 7, 2003
Such a comment on Irina Khakamada's statement about
the action 'YABLOKO without Yavlinsky' was made by
the leader of the St. Petersburg branch of the YABLOKO
party Maxim Reznik to the Rosbalt correspondent.
Who
Is Taking a Bite out of YABLOKO*?
Gazeta, August 5, 2003 (Archive)
YABLOKO activists are determined to close ranks in
the face of the new threat.
* YABLOKO means 'apple' in Russian.
Head
of the St.P etersburg branch of YABLOKO: "YABLOKO
Without Yavlinsky" initiative will only help the leader
of the party
Rosbalt, August 4, 2003
According to Reznik, YABLOKO had a hard time findnmig
out who Igor Morozov is and it is difficult to say
how he could study the situation in the party to be
able to make such actions and statements.
SPS
is going to engage in tough struggle against YABLOKO
for the electorate
RIA Oreanda, August 11, 2003
On August 8, 2003, Head of the election campaign staff
of the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) Alfred Kokh
announced to journalists that he planned to engage
in a tough struggle against YABLOKO to grab the electorate
of the former.
Media
law changes provoke concern about press freedom
BBC Monitoring, August 8, 2003
Many in the media and political establishment view
the changes as a rollback of a decade of media freedoms
and a threat to free speech and free elections, particularly
in the regions.
Yabloko
Officials Complain About 'Black PR'
RFE/RL, August 6, 2003
Sergei Mitrokhin,
deputy leader of the Yabloko faction in the State
Duma, referred to the movement's formation as political
"hackwork" and an action of "black
PR," RosBalt reported the same day.
Sergei
Mitrokhin: "I consider the campaign YABLOKO Without
Yavlinsky to be an unprofessional piece of black PR
action."
Rosbalt, August 5, 2003
Mitrokhin also noted that the movement YABLOKO Without
Yavlinsky did not have a single member of the YABLOKO
party, which means that the party does not have people
who would agree to participate in such provocations
for money.
Sergei
Mitrokhin: Those who ordered the campaign "YABLOKO
Without Yavlinsky" will be detected soon.
Rosbalt, August 5, 2003
He stressed that the YABLOKO party was consistent
in opposing the [government's variant of the] reform
in the electricity sector, the opaque privatisation
of the largest and most profitable assets in this
sector, the attempts of the large monopolies to grasp
the housing and
utilities sector and switch to 100% payment by the
population of housing and utilities services.
United
Russia is the Richest and the Most Economical Party
By Valery Tzigankov, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, August 5,
2003
We have obtained copies of the financial statements
of United Russia, the Communist Party, the LDPR, YABLOKO,
the People's Party, and the Union of Right-Wing Forces
for 2002 - and checked the figures against reality.
Sergei
Mitrokhin: Anatoli Chubais ordered the "YABLOKO without
Yavlinsky press campaign
Rosbalt, August 1, 2003
In an interview with Rosbalt correspondent, Deputy
Head of the YABLOKO party Sergei
Mitrokhin said that the press conference "YABLOKO
without Yavlinsky" conducted in Moscow on Thursday
represented a "banal black PR campaign ".
Housing
and Utilities Elections Russian Regions Vote for
a Taming of Housing and Utilities Managers
By Natalia Ratiani, Izvestia, July 22, 2003
Today Russian voters are more concerned about the
performance of the housing and utilities services
rather than democratic liberties, and they will be
more eager to vote for parties that propose a way
out of the vicious circle in housing and utilities
reform.
Who
Has the Power
By Nikolai Popov, Novoye Vremya, No 28, July, 2003
As in the past 75 per cent of Russians believe that
"the state should resolve all the country's problems."
Pre-election
Ratings Evoke No Trust
By Valery Vyzhutovich, Rossiiskaya Gazeta No. 143,
July 18, 2003
The All-Russia Centre for Public Opinion Studies (VTsIOM)
published the results of its latest opinion polls
a few days ago, which show that 27 percent of the
electorate are prepared to vote for the communists
and 26 percent for United Russia.
Yabloko
Still Counts On Khodorkovsky
By Francesca Mereu, The Moscow Times, July 16, 2003
The liberal opposition Yabloko party says it is not
worried about losing the financial support of Yukos
CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky, despite a sense that his
political activities are one cause of his current
conflict with the Kremlin.
Central
Electoral Commission tried to Reconcile Political
Rivals
By Olga Tropkina, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, June 27, 2003
The drafting of a public accord entitled "Elections
2003", which was initiated yesterday by the Central
Electoral Commission (CEC) and involved the leaders
of the major political parties, ran the risk of resulting
in a scandal.
Voters
Nabbed by Networks. Election Race Begins: Political
Parties Seek Support from Virtual World
By Anna Zakatnova, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, 25 June 2003
Parties' fondness for the Internet has gone so far
that Yabloko members have even proposed using the
Net for public supervision of the elections.
Poll
Suggests Only Four Parties Will Have Seats in New
Parliament
Interfax, June 26, 2003
Grigory Yavlinsky's
Yabloko party would come in third with 8% of the vote.
Its position has not deteriorated since the previous
poll.
Deputies
Go Home With an Eye on Upcoming Elections
By Francesca Mereu, The Moscow Times, June 23, 2003
After pushing through tax bills but failing to elect
a new human rights commissioner, State Duma deputies
wrapped up their spring session Saturday and headed
home to woo voters before reconvening in the fall
with the December elections in mind.
Silence
of the Lambs
Vremya MN, June 19, 2003
In other words, the majority of the lower house voted
to remove citizens of Russia and the media from the
election process. No more free and democratic elections
in Russia.
Visit
of Grigory Yavlinsky to Rostov Region
Yuzhni Region, June 2, 2003
... We are going to introduce a large programme for
the development of small cities in autumn. We would
like to discuss the possibility for such work in Rostov
Region and the South Russia...
YABLOKO
Decides to Help to Small Cities
By Sergei Andreyev, Komsomolskaya Pravda, June 4,
2003
After St. Petersburg another Russian city is preparing
to celebrate its 300th anniversary. This is a small
city, Belaya Kalitva, situated in Rostov region. The
city was visited by Chairman of the YABLOKO party
Grigory Yavlinsky
during his trip to Rostov region, when he promised
to help with the preparations of the celebrations.
YABLOKO:
there will be no alliance with the CPRF
Lenta.ru, May 29, 2003
Lukin also called the billboards that appeared in
Moscow streets and picture YABLOKO with a sickle and
hammer under a slogan "We Are Together"
a provocation and 'black PR'.
YABLOKO
forwarded to the Central Electoral Commission and
Public Prosecutor General of Moscow a petition demanding
that it take to task the promotion company picturing
YABLOKO with hammer and sickle
Finmarketnovosti, May 30, 2003
Deputy Chairman of YABLOKO Sergei
Mitrokhin forwarded to the Central Electoral Commission
and Public Prosecutor General of Moscow a petition
demanding that it curb the 'black PR': placards that
appeared in the metro picturing YABLOKO with hammer
and sickle and a slogan "We Are Together!"
YABLOKO
Against 'Black PR'
Komsomolskaya Pravda, May 31, 2003
The YABLOKO party: mass media should put barriers
to dirty election technologies.
Vladimir
Lukin: "We Are Not Inferior To Others. We Have
A Distinct History"
By Nairi Hovsepyan, Novoye Vremya (New Times), May
2003
You know that revolution has a dual nature. It is
not only a bloody, dramatic and romantic upheaval
linked with symbolic actions, often destructive. It
is also a renewal of society when each cell begins
to live in a new way.
May's
Poll by VTsIOM
Interfax, May 30, 2003
If the elections to the State Duma were held this
Sunday, the CPRF would be ahead of United Russia:
these parties would get 28% and 30% respectively.
President
still most popular - poll
Interfax, May 28, 2003
A survey conducted by the All Russian Center For Public
Opinion Studies of 1,600 showed that 70% (3% less
than in April) of Russians approved of the president's
work in May and 27% (3% more than the month before)
held the opposite opinion.
Putin's
Rating Falls While Unified Russia's Rises
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, May 29, 2003
The poll found that President Putin's approval rating
fell to 70 percent from 73 percent last month -- reaching
its lowest level since December 2000, when his rating
was 68 percent. The center also found that the rating
for the pro-Kremlin Unified Russia party rose from
21 percent last month to 23 percent in May.
Grigory
Yavlinsky: We Should Not Tolerate This Government
Any More
By Sergei Yuriyev, Komsomolskaya Pravda, May 23, 2003
On the threshold of the May bank holidays the YABLOKO
party announced its decision to begin collecting signatures
among deputies of the State Duma for the vote of no-confidence
in the government.
Grigory
Yavlinsky Called on the Residents of Perm to Watch
Less TV
By Ksenia Veretennikova, Vremya Novostei, May 26,
2003
"We should not imagine anything. We should create
such an economy that would survive even under a bad
government."
Zyuganov
and the Void, Analysis of the latest political rumors
By Leonid Sergienko, Vremya MN, May 23, 2003
Vicious dirty PR tactics allegedly made by some political
consultants close to the Kremlin indicate how seriously
the regime considers a possible communist alliance
with some oligarchs.
PUTIN
RAISES THE STAKES FOR DUMA ELECTIONS
By Laura Belin, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Russian
Political Weekly Vol. 3, No. 20, 23 May 2003
...Nevertheless, for the first time in post-Soviet
Russia, a president endorsed in such a forum the idea
of appointing a government that would enjoy the support
of most parliamentarians...
SPS
Picks Kokh as Election Chief
By Andrei Zolotov Jr., The Moscow Times, May 6, 2003
Alfred Kokh, one of the most colorful and controversial
figures in both business and politics, will undertake
next Monday the daunting task of managing the parliamentary
election campaign for the liberal Union of Right Forces
party.
Russia's
elections will not be devoid of ideological content
By Igor Bunin, General Director of the Political Consulting
Center, Vremya Novostei, April 29, 2003
Yabloko's key supporters are the Russian intelligentsia,
who demand honest politics and moderate-liberal ideas.
The widespread revival of the state idea in today's
Russia has influenced these people as well - thus,
in a timely response to this trend, Yabloko has avoided
transforming itself into a politically destructive
organization, unlike the Liberal Russia party. Therefore,
it has a good chance of securing seats in the next
Duma.
Veshnyakov:
Freedom of Speech in a Labyrinth
Interview with Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission
Alexander Veshnyakov By Anna Feofilaktova, Moskovsky
Komsomolets, April 25, 2003
Russia's journalists are in a panic: fairly soon,
the sight of newspapers or televisions being shut
down could become commonplace. The Central Electoral
Commission (CEC), the Media Ministry and finally the
courts would merely have to decide whether journalists
were not objective in their coverage of a certain
presidential or parliamentary candidate or were praising
another candidate too much.
"Bolsheviks"
Against "Mensheviks"
By Marina Ozerova, Natalya Galimova and Natalya Shpitsina,
Moskovsky Komsomolets, April 22, 2003
Moskovsky Komsomolets interviewed prominent Russian
parliament members about their attitude to the "principle
of one-party rule": It should be noted that representatives
of the parties with the best chances of winning the
elections are more favourable to the idea than their
colleagues from the Duma "minority".
Vladimir
Lukin: "We have to summon up our strength and
win, as you do in a game of preference."
By Marina Ozerova, Interview with Vladimir
Lukin, Deputy Speaker of the State Duma (YABLOKO),
Moskovsky Komsomolets, April 23, 2003
...I like to be in touch with the electorate that
a politician should be close to and sense their mood
and thoughts.
Campaign
Kicks Off With Online Tricks
By Simon Saradzhyan and Larisa Naumenko, The Moscow
Times, April 21, 2003
Even though the parliamentary election campaign and
the mudslinging expected to accompany it have yet
to gain momentum, some parties and politicians have
already fallen victim to elaborate schemes designed
to damage their reputation in the eyes of their Internet-connected
voters.
YABLOKO,
SPS and CPRF to join together to ensure fair and honest
elections
KM-Novosti, April 16, 2003
The goal of the coming union is not to participate
as a bloc in the forthcoming parliamentary election,
but rather to monitor the voting process.
Grigory
Yavlinsky: Elections can be such a hassle
RTR, "News of the Week", April 13, 2003
...Russian needs politicians to save human lives.
That should be the main political goal in Russia.
Filing
Cabinet for Policy Platforms Most Russian voters don't
care about the policies of political parties
By Xenia Veretennikova, Vremya Novostei, April 9,
2003
For the majority of voters these platforms do not
contain anything they find interesting. Voters are
more attracted to a "brand", charismatic
leader, or some kind of election campaign slogan.
The exceptions, possibly, are only the Communist Party
and Yabloko.
The
YABLOKO Party to carry out its election campaign to
the State Duma in a new way this year
Vremya Novostei, April 4, 2003
Deputy Head of the YABLOKO faction in the State Duma
of the Russian Federation Sergei
Ivanenko informed a VN correspondent that this
campaign would be conducted on the streets, rather
than through the media.
Information
campaign against YABLOKO and Yavlinsky
Special for the YABLOKO web-site, March 28, 2003
In January-March 2003 the media conducted a campaign
to defame and discredit an alternative plan for reforming
the housing and communal services sector developed
by YABLOKO. The television channel, Ren-TV, newspapers
such as Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Tribuna, Noviye Izvestiya
and 30 regional newspapers were employed in the campaign.
Grigory
Yavlinsky: "The President Alone Cannot Control
Everything."
Interview with Grigory
Yavlinsky, Gazeta, March 25, 2003
Society needs an independent Duma. If we have an imitation
Duma instead of a real Duma, and the court and elections,
parties and politics are also an imitation, then we
may end up with an imitation of presidential power.
We should not forget about this.
Duma
Eyes Election Violations
By Nabi Abdullaev, The Moscow Times, March 26, 2003
With parliamentary and presidential elections looming,
the State Duma passed in the first reading Friday
a raft of amendments that toughen penalties for electoral
violations by individuals and the media.
Russian
Parties as They Are
By Dmitry Olshansky, Prof. Director of the Centre
for Strategic Analysis and Forecasts, Vremya Novostei,
No. 46, March 2003
Six months ago sociologists concluded that the "undecided"
proportion of respondents (the floating votes unable
to make up their mind, as they don’t like any of the
options) amounted to 20-25% of the total. This was
only natural a year before the elections. However,
six months later, the situation has changed, with
the number of floating voters growing to 40% of the
electorate. Who will they choose at the last possible
moment? Who will they vote for? What negative element
could come from this block? These are disturbing questions.
Duma
to silence mass media before elections
By Marina Sokolovskaya, Natalia Rostova, gazeta.ru,
March 24, 2003
The State Duma has given initial approval to a presidential
draft law that makes amendments to legislation governing
the activity of media outlets during election campaigns.
The deputies, however, have ignored the concerns expressed
by the media over the draft law.
NEMTSOV
COMES A-COURTING, AND YABLOKO KEEPS ITS DISTANCE
By David White, RFE/RL Russian Political Weekly,
Volume 3, Number 11, March 13, 2003
With parliamentary elections a matter of months away,
it can have come as no great surprise to followers
of Russian party politics when, at the end of January,
moves toward closer cooperation between Yabloko and
the Union of Rightist Forces (SPS) came to an end.
The
State of the Parties, Positioning of the Russian
political forces
By Dmitry Olshansky, Vremya Novostei, March 17,
2003
When determining the public's preferences six months
ago, pollsters assumed that the proportion of the
"undecided" (i.e. the floating voters who
don't know whom to support, as nobody seems to be
worthy of support) was around 20-25%. This was normal,
with over a year before the elections. However, six
months ago the situation changed: the number of floating
voters has increased to some 40% of the electorate.
Whom they may like and support at the very last moment
is a disturbing question.
Experts
predict social optimism at next federal elections.
ITAR-TASS, March 13, 2003
Russian sociology experts believe that the parliamentary
and presidential elections scheduled for the end of
2003 and the first half of 2004 will be marked by
high levels of social optimism, as society has adapted
to changes in the country, a high-ranking expert said
Thursday.
Who
Is Marching Left? An interview with political
analyst Anatoly
Golov, YABLOKO party By Vladimir Ignatov,
Trud, March 5, 2003
Which of Russia's political forces can actually be
described as "really left wing"? We asked
Anatoly Golov, St. Petersburg political analyst and
organisational committee member of the Civic Forum
of Voters, for his views.
Kremlin
betrays right-wing parties in election committee vote
By Boris Sapozhnikov, gazeta.ru, February 13, 2003
On Wednesday the lower house voted to elect its representatives
to the Central Election Committee. The routine procedure
of electing new members led to a completely unexpected
alliance between the liberal Yabloko leader Grigory
Yavlinsky and the head of the ultra-nationalist
LDPR Vladimir Zhirinovsky, which helped Yabloko's
candidate keep her post in the CEC. The support of
the pro-presidential factions also made Yabloko's
victory possible, and was a slap in the face for the
SPS.
Kremlin
Tightening Reins Ahead of Polls
By Natalia Yefimova, Staff Writer, The Moscow Times,
February 14, 2003
Worried that its most loyal party won't manage to
sweep the December parliamentary elections, the Kremlin
is trying to help it along by squeezing out competitors
from the middle of the political spectrum.
Sergei
Mitrokhin refutes allegations about YABLOKO's talks
with Boris Fyodorov
Rosbalt, February 27, 2003
"Boris Fyodorov has not conducted and is not
holding any talks with our party on including his
candidacy in the federal list of YABLOKO at the State
Duma elections," said Deputy Head of theYABLOKO
party Sergei
Mitrokhin to the Rosbalt correspondent on Thursday,
February 27, 2003.
YABLOKO
starts preparing for State Duma election
RIA Novosti, February 22, 2003
According to YABLOKO's press-service, the decision
to create the headquarters was adopted at meeting
of the Bureau of the Federal Council of the YABLOKO
party on Saturday.
The
Regional Resources of Federal Parties
By Alexander Khramchikhin, head departmental analyst
of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis,
Vremya MN, February 18, 2003
The size of the population and its activity at elections,
the political preferences of the electorate and the
strength and direction of the administrative resources
-- these parameters determine the value of each of
the 89 RF regions for the political parties during
elections to the State Duma.
Rivalry
Fragments Russia's Liberals
By Sharon LaFraniere, Washington Post Foreign Service,
Washington Post, February 7, 2003
MOSCOW, Feb. 6 -- Moscow was poised last week for
a major political event: a meeting between two of
Russia's best-known politicians who embrace Western-style
market democracy. After not speaking to each other
for six months, they were supposed to discuss uniting
their political parties in a bid to widen their slender
niche in a parliament dominated by President Vladimir
Putin.
Russia
on the Threshold of Elections
By Andrei Ryabov, Profil, No. 4, January 2003
Although a considerable amount of time remains until
the official start of the parliamentary election race,
the parties are taking up their positions now. It
is crystal clear that the Kremlin will pull the strings
in the forthcoming elections.
Only
four parties will make it into next State Duma according
to poll
Interfax, January 30, 2003
According to a new poll, if State Duma elections were
held today, the United Russia party would win 26%
of votes, the Communist Party 22% and the Liberal
Democratic Party of Russia and the Yabloko Party 5%
each.
Yavlinsky
Will Go His Own Way
By Bulat Stolyarov, Vitaly Ivanov, Vedomosti, January
27, 2003
Yabloko sponsors have failed to persuade Grigory Yavlinsky
that his party and the Union of Right-Wing Forces
(SPS) should combine their candidate lists for the
parliamentary elections.
YABLOKO*
Will Not Roll Towards the SPS
By Vladimir Ignatov, Trud, January 30, 2003
- It is difficult for the leaders of both the parties
to find an acceptable coalition formula. YABLOKO's
active voters remember only too well Gaidar's "shock
therapy" and don't want to hear about the considered
culprit Chubais.
YABLOKO
Does Not Sell Itself
By Anastasia Matveyeva, Gazeta, January 29, 2003
As Gazeta have already reported before, today the
idea of a coalition between the Union of Right-Wing
Forces (SPS) and Yabloko can be forgotten.. Yesterday,
on January 28, [Yabloko Leaders] Grigory Yavlinsky
and Sergei Ivanenko forwarded to [SPS leaders] Boris
Nemtsov and Irina Khakamada a letter, saying the SPS's
proposals were unacceptable for Yabloko. The long-awaited
meeting of the leaders of the two parties, scheduled
for Wednesday, will not take place.
SPS
and YABLOKO parties are too different to do Duma election
deal
Ekho Moskvy, January 29, 2003
YABLOKO will not merge with the Union of Right-Wing
Forces (SPS) and will not form a joint list of candidates
with the party in the run-up to the December 2003
parliamentary elections, the Deputy Head of YABLOKO
faction in the State Duma, Sergey Ivanenko, said on
Ekho Moskvy radio.
Liberals
see no future for the parties on the right
By Ksenia Solyanskaya, gazeta.ru, January 29, 2003
After evaluating the prospects of the right of centre
in the impending elections, liberals from the Yabloko
Party announced that their leader Grigory Yavlinsky
would not attend a Wednesday meeting with Boris Nemtsov.
It looks as if Yabloko politicians believe they will
get enough seats in the Duma, while the party of Chubais,
Nemtsov and Khakamada will get none.
No
Yabloko-SPS Coalition in Polls
The Moscow Times, January 30, 2003
The country's top liberal parties, Yabloko and the
Union of Right Forces, or SPS, will not run together
in upcoming parliamentary elections, an SPS leader
said Wednesday.
There
Are Two Political Forces in Russia: the Communists
and Putin
An interview with Viktor Militaryov, President of
the Development Institute Foundation., Konservator
No. 1, January 17, 2003
At present, there are two political forces in Russia:
the Communist Party and Putin. Moreover, people seem
not to perceive any fundamental difference between
the two. Most people view them as representing their
interests, aimed at improving their lives as soon
as possible. People hope for a better standard of
living and are becoming more indifferent to oligarchs,
and believe in a stronger state.
Yabloko
and the SPS are of each other as Maskhadov and Putin
By Anastasiya Matveeva, Gazeta, January 24, 2003
Everybody can forget the idea of a merger between
Yabloko and the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS).
Yabloko, led by Grigory Yavlinsky, has issued a firm
"no" to an offer from the SPS, delivered
via some business leaders. In other words, next week's
meeting between Yavlinsky and SPS leader Boris Nemtsov,
dedicated to the merger issue, will probably be pointless.
Yavlinsky
Receives an Offer to Compete with the President
By Andrey Savitsky, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, January 24,
2003
Talks on a merger between Yabloko and the Union of
Right-Wing Forces (SPS) have reached a crescendo.
We have learned the gist of some carefully- concealed
proposals for a compromise merger between the SPS
and Yabloko. In brief, the unification plan consists
of the following. In the Duma elections the two parties
would form a single bloc, with a common list of candidates.
Nemtsov
Would Like to Unite with Yavlinsky
The National Information Group, January 22, 2003
The leader of the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS)
Boris Nemtsov confirmed that he had forwarded to the
leader of YABLOKO Grigory Yavlinsky his proposals
on a possible union between the two parties for participation
in parliamentary and presidential elections. "Our
proposals were forwarded to Yavlinsky via an influential
intermediary," noted Boris Nemtsov in an interview
with Interfax on Wednesday.
Russia
Enters the Year of Parliamentary Elections
By Marina Shakina, Versty No. 149
Russia is holding parliamentary elections in 2003.
Like the Olympics they are held every four years.
The 1993 elections witnessed the collapse of Russia's
Choice, the favourite at the time, and the victory
of a "dark horse" - the LDPR. The authorities
were shocked by the 1995 election results owing to
the return of the Communist party as the leading force.
The 1999 elections represented a breakthrough for
the Unity party, which overshadowed the traditional
success of the Communists. What will 2003 bring?
Liberals
Want Chubais Off the Political Scene
By Maria Tsvetkova, gazeta.ru, December 24, 2002
The liberal Yabloko Party leader Grigory Yavlinsky,
after consolidating support from his party activists
at a conference held last Saturday, entered into a
decisive battle Monday with the leadership of the
Union of Righ-Wing Forces (SPS), long viewed by many
as a potential ally of Yabloko in next year's parliamentary
elections.
Yavlinsky issued an ultimatum to SPS leaders Boris
Nemtsov and Irina Khakamda, saying that to form an
election coalition with Yabloko they must first expel
Anatoly Chubais and Sergei Kiriyenko, whose political
pasts undermine the reputation of the parties on the
right.
Grigory
Yavlinsky has Turned Leftist
By Yuri Chernega, Kommersant, December 24, 2002
Endorsed by the Yabloko General Council last weekend,
the charter is to be discussed by the Russian Democratic
Assembly set up at the initiative of Grigori Yavlinsky's
supporters. The charter comments sadly on the "declining
confidence in democratic values and free market reforms"
caused by "mistakes and sometimes crimes committed
under the guise of democratic and reformist slogans
by people calling themselves democrats and reformers."
The charter concludes that "trust in the new
alliance of democrats will be minimal if the coalition
is headed by the same people who supported the war
in Chechnya, carried out criminal privatization, built
state financial pyramids, and initiated fiscal defaults."
Russians
see Putin as political party
By Avtandil Tsuladze, December 23, 2002
The Kremlin's experiment aimed at creating a strong
party system in Russia is doomed to failure. Ironically,
Vladimir Putin's soaring ratings are to blame. This
also means that the St. Petersburg liberals and top
civil servants, who rose to power on the back of Putin's
landslide election victory in 2000, will, sooner or
later, have to go through the rigmarole of registering
with the Justice Ministry, just like all other political
parties.
Freedom
or Property?
"Svobodni Kurs" (Free Course), Barnaul,
December 12, 2002
Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky, by Elena Fyodorinova
and Dmitri Negreev
At the request of "Svobodni Kurs" the leader
of YABLOKO Grigory Yavlinsky shared with us his forecasts
for the coming year.
General
Elections Coming
No surprises expected?
Moscow Tribune, By Stanislav Menshikov, December
20, 2002
In less than a year Russia will have a new parliament
and soon after, a newly elected president. The election
marathon in this country is usually an exciting time.
Recall Boris Yeltsin's first success in 1991 while
Mikhail Gorbachev was still around and his narrow
victory against Gennady Zyuganov in 1996 after lagging
behind his rival for months. Recall Vladimir Zhirinovsky's
unexpected triumph in the parliamentary elections
of 1993 and the joint Communist-Agrarian victory in
the Duma elections of 1995. Equally dramatic was the
appearance out of nowhere of the Unity (Bear) party
in 1999 which led to Putin's election as president
and his eventual overwhelming control of the parliament.
Yavlinsky:
Yabloko can't cooperate with Chubais and Kiriyenko
Interfax, December 23, 2002
MOSCOW. Dec 23 (Interfax) - Yabloko leader Grigory
Yavlinsky has named the politicians who, in his opinion,
have no role to play in the democratic coalition.
Grigory
Yavlinsky, leader of YABLOKO: "As the manipulation
factor is very strong, nothing can be predicted."
Konservator, By Nelli Orlova, November 29, 2002
MOSCOW, Sept. 27 - Energy executives and government
officials from Russia and the United Question: What
is your overall political forecast for the next year,
and for the upcoming fourth Duma elections?
The
Anti-Oligarch Dialogue
Konservator, By Lilia Shevtsova, Leading Researcher,
the Carnegie Foundation, November 29, 2002
MOSCOW, Sept. 27 - Energy executives and government
officials from Russia and the United States will meet
in Houston next week to discuss energy cooperation
at a time when concerns over the safety of world oil
supplies have been heightened by the Bush administration's
push for We are observing a curious and paradoxical
situation at the moment: President Putin has opened
a dialogue with Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky.
Indecent
Proposal.
The right-wing are once again considering a marriage
of convenience
Moskovsky Komsomolets, By Alexander Minkin, October
23 2002
Another attempt by the democrats to unite has proved
abortive. Or rather an attempt by their leaders. Boris
Nemtsov explained this failure on TV, saying with
a jeer that "the bride who is past her prime is too
capricious and choosy.
Your
Union Is a Pretence, Friends
Rossiiskaya Gazeta, By Vitaly Tretyakov, October 24,
2002
The talk about the prospect of uniting democratic
forces in an electoral union, movement, or bloc has
had a long history and has little hope for success.
From time to time, the idea of such a union is revived,
especially duringsessions of the Democratic conference
that consists of a number of dwarfish party structures,
human rights watching clubs, and first and foremost
the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) and Yabloko.
Russia:
Centrists Propose Changing Electoral Law
Radio Liberty, By Gregory Feifer, October 18, 2002
Since Russian President Vladimir Putin came
to power over two years ago, he has done much to carry
out his promise of strengthening centralized power.
The pro-Kremlin Unified Russia party is now proposing
to further consolidate the country's political forces
by changing parliamentary election rules.
Lawmakers
Eye Tougher Rules for Duma Seats
The Moscow Times, by Oksana Yablokova, October 10,
2002.
A handful of young Yabloko supporters, wearing red
wigs in a nod to Chubais and carrying boxes reading
"Alms for reform," protesting the UES bills at the
Duma on Wednesday.
Russia
considers electoral change
UPI, By Anthony Louis, October 8, 2002
MOSCOW, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Leaders of a growing pro-Kremlin
political bloc have proposed changing Russia's electoral
rules by dramatically raising the threshold of votes
in parliamentary elections required for political
parties to win seats in the Duma, Russia's lower house.
The
proposal of "United Russia" to raise the
threshold for access to the State Duma to 12.5% is
targeted against YABLOKO and the Union of Right-Wing
Forces
Rosbalt, October 7, 2002
The proposal of the "United Russia" to raise the threshold
for access to the State Duma to 12.5% is targeted
against YABLOKO and the Union of Right-Wing Forces.
This opinion was expressed by Deputy Chairman of the
YABLOKO party Sergei Ivanenko to a Rosbalt correspondent
on Monday. According to Ivanenko, this proposal had
been developed by the representatives of the "second
echelon" of "United Russia". " First we should learn
what the real heads of the party - the Administration
of the President of the RF - will say to this," noted
Ivanenko.
Grigory
Yavlinsky: The twelve per cent barrier is preparing
the grounds for a nationwide crisis.
NTV channel, "Segodnya Vecherom" programme,
October 7, 12002, 10.00 p.m.
Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky
Kremlin
Has a Bill on Firing Governors
The Moscow Times, by Andrei Zolotov Jr., October 8,
2002
Contrary to what some see as a friendlier phase in
President Vladimir Putin's relationship with the governors,
the Kremlin is cobbling together plans to strengthen
its grip on the regional powers.
Speech
of the First Deputy head of the YABLOKO faction of
the State Duma Sergei Ivanenko during discussions
of the draft law on the ban on referendums in the
year of elections to the State Duma and presidential
elections
The State Duma of the RF
September 18, 2002.
Pro-Kremlin
party to rid Duma of liberals, Zhirinovsky
gazeta.ru, by Artyom Vernidoub , October 8, 2002
Existing economic mechanisms only achieve the very
narrow goal of maintaining the present [economic]
level, but fail to provide for medium-term economic
growth. In terms of solutions to the main problems
facing the country, the economic system has been in
a state of decline and has The State Duma's most numerous
and servile faction -- the pro-Kremlin Unity Party
and its centrist allies -- is set to purge the house
of its smaller factions, such as Yabloko, the Union
of Right-Wing Forces (SPS), and Vladimir Zhirinovsky's
LDPR, and in the long run form a bipartisan parliament.
Yavlisnky's
Credo: Against Corruption in the Union of Right-Wing
Forces and for Putin
Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky, leader of the Yabloko
party
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, by Maxim Glikin, October 11,
2002
"Question: Perhaps
RAO UES executives are deliberately "driving
down" the company's share price, so that it will
be easier to buy it up?
Yavlinsky: If
they deliberately set out to devalue RAO UES by USD6
billion over two years, the executives of this state-owned
company ought to be sent to... You know where. Immediately.
That qualifies as misappropriation of state property."
Liberal
Alternative to Putin.
Why we need a right-wing challenger to Putin in 2004
by Leonid Sedov, National Public Opinion Research
Center (VTsIOM)
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, October 2, 2002
The key postulate of contemporary Russian politics
is that the political stage is dominated by Vladimir
Putin. Few doubt that he will win the next presidential
elections. Polls indicate that 47% of voters are prepared
to vote for Putin, and even more (76%) approve of
his performance as President. It is hard to imagine
any event that could change this situation significantly....
Deputy
of the State Duma Mikhail Zadornov: Budget for 2003
is unfavourable towards regions
Rosbalt, August 30, 2002
Moscow August 30, 2002. The adoption by the State
Duma of the federal budget for 2003 in the government’s
version is unprofitable for Russia’s regions.
This opinion was expressed by Deputy Head of the Budget
Committee of the State Duma Mikhail Zadornov (YABLOKO)
at his meeting with journalists on Friday, August
30, 2002.
Two
Different Things
Trud, July 19, 2002
The Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) is prone to sudden
new ideas. Petr Kutcherenko, a member of the SPS national
political council and leader of the SPS youth wing,
has proposed asking Boris Yeltsin to head the democratic
bloc during the parliamentary elections scheduled
for December 2003.
Seleznev
Will Not Manage to Become a Lebed
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, by Anatoli
Kostyukov. July 19, 2002
Yesterday the Duma delegation of the YABLOKO faction
handed Andrei Sharonov, RF Former friends make the
worst enemies. Obviously, following this reasoning,
it has been predicted that the party being launched
by Duma speaker Gennady Seleznev will be a dangerous
competitor for the Communist Party (CPRF).
YABLOKO
AND THE VACUUM
No merger or alliance for the Union of Right-Wing
Forces and Yabloko
Vek No. 22, by Andrei Ryabov. July 12, 2002
The latest round of talks about campaign cooperation
between the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) and Yabloko
has led to much discussion about the form of this
cooperation - from joint support for candidates in
single-mandate districts to all the democratic parties
uniting behind one presidential candidate. As in previous
years, there is a marked level of scepticism about
the possibility of a pre-election alliance between
these parties.
Chubais
and Kirienko to Oust Putin
Gazeta.ru, by Elena Rudneva. June 27, 2002.
The leader of YABLOKO, Grigory Yavlinsky, issued this
statement. According to Yavlinsky, he planned to have
a meeting on Monday with the President to "discuss
this threat".
YABLOKO
and the Union of Right-Wing Forces to Agree in Autumn
Kommersant, July 6, 2002. By Syuzanna Farizova
On July 5, a meeting of the united political council
of the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) and Yabloko
was held in the Duma. After a debate that lasted two
hours, the two democratic parties decided to run in
the 2003 parliamentary election separately but coordinate
their lists of candidates in single-mandate districts.
The main issue forthe parties - the nomination of
a single candidate in the 2004 presidential election
- was not decided.
Yabloko
to Team Up With SPS For Vote
By Oksana Yablokova. The Moscow Times, July 8, 2002.
Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces, the country's
two main liberal parties, announced Friday that they
will work out a joint political platform for backing
a single "democratic" candidate in the next
presidential election, in 2004.
Kremlin's
Doubles
By Yelena Tregubova. Kommersant-Vlast, No. 23, June
2002.
The Speaker of the State Duma Gennay Seleznev announced
last week that he intends to develop the Rossia movement
into a real political party. If he succeeds, Rossia
will essentially become a second communist party,
a sort of carbon copy of the CPRF. Actually, this
fits in with the logic of President Vladimir Putin's
actions, who seems intent on running the country with
the help of a system of duplicates.
YABLOKO
launches election Ccampaign and augments upper echelons
with defectors from the Union of Right-Wing Forces
By Anna Zakatnova, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, June 17, 2002
Representatives from 55 regional branches of the party
attended the national congress. It took them three
days to discuss Yabloko's official position with regard
to the regime, personnel matters, and preparations
for the forthcoming parliamentary elections.... |
