The Yabloko Association is satisfied with the results of gubernatorial elections in Mariy El Republic held on December 17. At the elections the Deputy Director General of the OAO “Rosgosstrakh” Leonid Markelov beat the present head of the Republic Vyacheslav Kislitsyn.

The Yabloko Association supported Leonid Markelov during the election campaign.

Before the vote, the Secretary of the Yabloko Association on Elections and Relations with the Heads of the Regions Igor Artemyev and Secretary for

Ideology Sergei Mitrokhin forwarded their letter to the mass media of the Republic.

The letter said that “the protection of human rights and the creation of a civil society with an open economy have always been the main priorities of Yabloko”, but it is impossible to achieve these goals when such heads as Vyacheslav Kislitsyn rule in the regions.

The letter states that during his four years as Head of the Republic, Kislitsyn “installed a regime of suppression of human rights and freedoms, as well as any individualism.” The authors also noted that Kislitsyn’s negligence of the law and issue decrees contradicting RF law, have become a norm in the Republic. Yabloko’s deputies also drew attention to the fact that Kislitsyn publicly stated his reluctance to observe the law.

The letter also noted that Mariy El Republic “firmly retains the rank of one of the poorest regions of Russia”. The living standards in the republic are considerably lower than in the neighbouring Great Volga regions. Positive changes have not been observed in industry or agriculture; virtually no investments have been made in the region; whereas the economic policies of the republican authorities sought only to ensure total control over the economy and suppression of private initiative.