Yabloko is going to submit to the Duma its version of the draft law “On Parties”. This information was provided to journalists by Sergei Mitrokhin (Yabloko faction) on October 30, 2000.

According to Mitrokhin, the Yabloko congress discussed in detail the draft law “On Parties” developed by the Central Electoral Committee. “There are many provisions in this draft that satisfy us, but at the same time there are debatable points,” said Mitrokhin. He believes that the greatest threat is posed by monopolisation of the political space by the ruling party. He also noted that the law does not provide clear restrictions on the activity of the political parties in some public institutions, such as schools, the army, the police, etc. “All these bodies can be subject to total enlistment in the party, and the party may use them for its own politicalpurposes,” stressed Mitrokhin.

The law should contain a provision that any party is entitled to express its views through the mass media. “ If we don’t do this, the mass media will become an arena of continuous propaganda by the party of power,” added Mitrokhin. In addition, the law should also regulate the inner party structure to make it impossible to create totalitarian parties.

Mitrokhin also informed journalists that Yabloko had already prepared its variant of the draft law “On Parties”, but that no decision had been adopted on its submission to the State Duma.