The Yabloko Association confirms its readiness to develop cooperation with the Union of the Right-Wing Forces and create a “coalition of two strong independent democratic parties.” This position is reflected in the appeal (distributed on Friday, May 25, 2001) of the Bureau of the Central Council of the Yabloko Association to the constituent congress of the SPS.

The document stresses that Yabloko considers “the consolidation of all the democratic forces in Russia on the basis of freedom, observation of human rights, supremacy of law, orientation on the European economic model and support of the civil society to be extremely important.”

The appeal states: “Today we see a real threat to democratic rights and freedoms. The habituation of society to war and murders on a daily basis, the introduction of a conformity of opinions and persecution of the mass media that are not state-controlled, the lack of real economic growth and, as a consequence, extremely low living standards of most citizens in Russia – these are the signs of aregression”.

Yabloko called on the SPS to join in efforts to resolve the most acute problems facing Russia today.

Yabloko proposes joint efforts to attain “economic and social reforms, guarantees of the freedom of speech, implementation of judicial reform, organisation of civil control over the secret services, adoption of urgent measures to reduce the tax burden, guarantees of the observation of private property rights and activisation of anti-monopoly policies, control over the tariffs for natural monopolies, decision to raise in a non-inflationary manner the incomes of the population, first of all of pensions and wages in the budget sphere, transfer of the Armed Forces on a professional contract basis and the abolition of army conscription beginning from 2002 and a political resolution of the conflict in the Chechen Republic”. The document adds: “Yabloko and the SPS have not always agreed on all these issues. And there may be discrepancies in future. But in our opinion this does not create an obstacle to the development of the coalition.”

Based on Interfax reports.