| Representatives from 55 regional branches of
the party attended the meeting of the Federal Council of YABLOKO.
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. Grigory Yavlinsky's
supporters welcome Vladimir Putin's foreign policy but democratically
object to his domestic course. Yavlinsky emphasized in his speech
that Putin's pro-Western foreign policy could not be implemented
if his domestic policy resembles that pursued by Central Asian
regimes. Generally speaking, Yavlinsky evaluates Russia's current
position as critical. He is of the opinion that "the thesis
of controllable democracy is losing credibility" and that
it is time we began talking about "a system incorporating
criminal-corrupt elements". The presidential administration
is the strongest link in the chain, according to the YABLOKO leader.
It seems, however, that all this criticism serves one purpose
only: preparation for the next elections. According to Sergei
Ivanenko, deputy leader of the YABLOKO faction, "the national
congress is the party's way of entering the election phase".
During the congress,
YABLOKO resolved to "compile inter-regional lists for 15
regions with 7,000,000 voters each". Yavlinsky's followers
also endorsed the idea of fielding 26 candidates for the Duma.
Regarding cooperation with Boris Nemtsov's associates, YABLOKO
now denies even the possibility of keeping the traditional coalition
between Yabloko and the Union of Right-Wing Forces . Or rather
the notion of the coalition was seriously corrected.
According to Ivanenko, YABLOKO has not abandoned the idea of
having a democratic coalition, but does not see any sense in making
a joint list of candidates from YABLOKO and the Union of Right-Wing
Forces. The Union of Right-Wing Forces and YABLOKO disagree on
a number of issues, ranging from economic policy to Chechnya,
environmental protection and oligarchs. As Ivanenko put it, "had
the threat of totalitarianism or fascism been real, we would have
acted differently. There is, however, no such threat".
It is hardly surprising therefore that YABLOKO accepted Alexander
Osovtsov, a defector from the Union of Right-Wing Forces. He was
immediately elected into the upper echelons of YABLOKO.
Yavlinsky, a man who takes membership issues rather seriously,
said that acceptance of Osovtsov "represents an admission
of the party's capacities and a political necessity".
See also: Elections
to the State Duma, 2003
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