Under 2% of the bulletins remain to be processed by the Central Electoral Committee before the final official results can be announced: Yabloko has 5.98%

The final results of the Duma elections: Yabloko obtained 5.93% of the vote

The Central Electoral Commission (CEC) has released the final results of the State Duma elections.

The Central Electoral Committee needs to process the final 2% of the bulletins and tally the present figures with the data in the protocols of the electoral districts commissions before the final official results are announced.

Grigory Yavlinsky, "In the new Duma the Yabloko faction will not join other blocs and will continue to assert its principled policies."

The leader of Yabloko, Grigory Yavlinsky, declared that in the new Duma the Yabloko faction would not join other blocs and would continue to assert its principled policies on the most urgent political and economic issues.

Vladimir Lukin: Despite the difficult conditions we managed to retain our electorate

One of Yabloko's leaders, the Chairman of the Committee for International Affairs of the State Duma of the second convocation Vladimir Lukin, commented on the preliminary results of the elections to the State Duma , whereby Yabloko together with five other electoral blocs overcame the 5% barrier. Vladimir Lukin expressed his satisfaction with these results.

Sergei Stepashin believes that Yabloko will be able to become a centre in the new State Duma for a union of right wing forces

Ex-Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin, who won a seat to the State Duma in the 209th single mandate electoral district in St Petersburg, thinks that Yabloko will be able to become a "centre for a broad union of right wing forces" in the new Duma. He expressed this opinion in an interview with journalists on December 20, 1999.

St Petersburg politicians assess the results of the State Duma elections in the Northern capital of Russia

The Chairman of the St Petersburg branch of Yabloko, Alexander Shishlov, noted in a discussion with journalists on December 20, 1999, that, although Yabloko "expected a better showing in St Petersburg, the results should not be treated as a defeat for the party". "We are satisfied that Yabloko representatives came first in single mandate electoral districts, winning in four out of eight districts," noted Shishlov.

Grigory Yavlinsky: Yabloko's showing in the elections was worse than expected owing to unfair competitive conditions

Explaining why Yabloko did not fare as well in the Duma elections as it had expected, Grigory Yavlinsky said at a press conference on December 20, 1999, that unlike " Unity" and the "Union of Right Wing Forces" Yabloko was not accorded any air time on ORT and RTR TV channels.

Vladimir Lukin: the Duma elections cannot be considered democratic

The First Deputy Chairman of Yabloko, Vladimir Lukin, thinks that "the Duma elections cannot be considered democratic".

Grigory Yavlinsky thinks that the leadership of "The Unity" (Yedinstvo) bloc indicates that Russia is "in many aspects still a Soviet country"

The leader of the Yabloko association Grigory Yavlinsky thinks that the success of "The Unity" (Yedinstvo) bloc at the parliamentary elections indicates that Russia is "in many aspects still a Soviet country".

Grigory Yavlinsky: Failures in Chechnya may lead to the collapse of the whole official political structure in Russia

The leader of Yabloko Grigory Yavlinsky is convinced that the stability of the present government in Russia " depends 90% on developments in Chechnya".

Grigory Yavlinsky believes that the federal budget for 2000 will have to be revised

The leader of Yabloko Grigory Yavlinsky thinks that the federal budget for 2000 will have to be revised during its implementation. He expressed this opinion at a press conference on December 17, 1999.

Grigory Yavlinsky, "Yabloko will form the Government in 2000"

Grigory Yavlinsky, leader of the public political association, Yabloko, is certain that Yabloko will form the federal Government in Russia in 2000, after the elections of the President of Russia.

Grigory Yavlinsky confirms his participation in the elections of the President of the RF

The Leader of the Yabloko party confirmed that he would take part in the presidential elections in 2000.

As he announced at a press conference on December 17, 1999, the participation of Yabloko in these elections is not simply related to presidential ambitions. Yavlinsky said: "I have bigger ambitions. I would like to be able to say in 20 years time that Russia was in a situation when it had been humiliated, was rife with corruption and crime, a war was going on and that Russia managed to extricate itself from this hole and become a European country."

Grigory Yavlinsky: Yabloko will not support Eugeni Primakov at presidential elections

Yabloko will not support Eugeni Primakov, the leader of the "Fatherland - All Russia " bloc (the OVR) at presidential elections in 2000, said Yabloko's leader Grigory Yavlinsky.

Grigory Yavlinsky: Yabloko is not the party of the authorities, itprotects the interests of the citizens

The leader of Yabloko association, Grigory Yavlinsky, says that todayonly one party in Russia does not belong to the authorities."Today the political situation in Russia is such that there is only one large party in Russia that does not belong to the authorities andprotects the interests of the citizens - this is Yabloko", said Grigory Yavlinsky at a press conference on December 17, 1999.

Forecast of the Duma elections from ARPI and ROMIR: Yabloko - 9-12%

The Regional Public Fund "Information for Democracy" (INDEM) basing its figures on the results of representative sociological polls of the sociology centre "The Russian Public Opinion and the Market" (ROMIR) and the independent Agency for Regional and Political Studies" (ARPI) forecast the results of the Duma elections scheduled for December 19, 1999.

Vladimir Lukin, "Yabloko favours a fully-fledged integration of Russia and Belarus

"The Yabloko association has favoured and does favour the fully-fledged integration of Russia and Belarus". That is how Vladimir Lukin, Chairman for the Committee on International Relations of the State Duma of the RF (Yabloko faction) commented on December 7, 1999 on the signing of the union treaty between the two states that was to take place on December 8, 1999."

Yavlinsky thinks that the Russian Government should hold negotiations with Chechnya to find partners there.

Yabloko's leader Grigory Yavlinsky thinks that the Russian Government must hold negotiations with representatives of Chechnya's leadership or authoritative people in the Republic to find partners among the population. This was announced by Grigory Yavlinsky on Wednesday in a speech at the state television and radio company "Altai" during his short election tour in Barnaul (the Altai Territory, Siberia).

"Russian citizens' opinion of Grigory Yavlinsky has not deteriorated after his declaration on Chechnya" (The Public Opinion Fund

After the declaration by Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky that the attack of the federal troops in Chechnya should be suspended and peaceful negotiations should be conducted with the President of Chechnya, Aslan Maskhadov, almost half of Russia's citizens (46%) stated that their opinion of Grigory Yavlinsky had not changed, while 18% hesitated to provide any answer.

Apparent Shift in Anatoli Chubais' stance on Grigory Yavlinsky's Chechnya position demonstrates a split in the Union of the Right Forces.

The recent explanations from Anatoli Chubais, a leader of the "Union of the Right Forces," regarding his accusations about Grigory Yavlinsky's "betrayal" in his Chechnya stance, indicate that a split is emerging in the URF, said one of Yabloko's leaders, Alexei Melnikov, a member of Yabloko's Central Council and a Deputy of the State Duma.

Yabloko proposes saving our universally available education system and doubling teachers' salaries

"We would like to demonstrate that there is a party in Russia that protects the interests of the country's future with the same persistence, as others advocate or oppose tolling", said Grigory Yavlinsky at a press conference in the State Duma.

Alexey Melnikov's responds to Anatoli Chubais with his own stringent accusations

The harsh criticism that Anatoli Chubais, the Chairman of RAO "EC-Rossiya", has expressed about the planned peaceful settlement of the conflict in Chechnya, which was proposed recently by Yabloko's leader Grigory Yavlinsky has provoked an extremely negative reaction from the leadership of the Yabloko association.

The Yabloko faction may support the agreement on a Union between Russia and Belarus

The Yabloko faction in the State Duma may support the idea of signing the Union Treaty between RF and Belarus, provided that Yabloko's proposals on the essence and contents of the document are taken into account.

At a briefing in Moscow on Monday, Vladimir Lukin, Chairman of the Committee for International Affairs of the State Duma (Yabloko), said that...

Sergei Stepashin on Grigory Yavlinsky's proposals

Former Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Sergei Stepashin, expresses his conviction that Russia must not interrupt its military operations in Chechnya today. However, he thinks that it is reasonable to initiate a dialogue with "those individuals who can really influence the situation" in Chechnya.

Sergei Ivanenko: Yabloko favours negotiations with official Chechnian authorities from a position of force.

Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko association, Sergei Ivanenko, said that the Declaration of Yabloko on ceasing the military attack in Chechnya and beginning negotiations with Aslan Maskhadov constitutes an "ultimatum to the Chechnian authorities.