| This party political video by Yabloko, a modification
of one broadcast earlier, was part of a televised election debate on Russian
Channel One TV on 26 November, which focused on foreign policy.
As before, it opened with the screen caption "Yabloko: in the interests
of the majority" and some archive footage of Yabloko leader Grigory
Yavlinsky and other party members in the Duma and various other situations.
It was accompanied by the following voice-over: "They came into politics
when it was no longer possible to stay away, when they realized that their
knowledge and experience could help Russia become an economically developed
and free country."
In a variation on a previous theme, the voice-over continued: "At
the end of the 1980s, a group of young experts under the government of
the RSFSR [Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic as a component
part of the USSR] drafted the 500 Days programme [archive footage of a
rally in support of the programme]. However, the Russian leadership's
irresponsible ambitions [video of a government limo and the USSR's Council
of Ministers block] meant that the unique chance to reform the country's
economic potential and avoid plunging millions of people into poverty
was not taken [video: homeless in a city].
"To really improve the lives of ordinary Russians, it was necessary
[for Yabloko] to become a political force to be reckoned with. Consequently,
in the autumn of 1993, a new democratic bloc, soon christened Yabloko,
was born. Yabloko put forward an alternative version of the budget and
tax code, and condemned the practice, detrimental to the national economy,
of endless loans from the International Monetary Fund secured with state
treasury bonds.
"As far back as August 1993, Yavlinsky warned that Russia's default
on its debts was inevitable.
"Yabloko resolutely opposed the blueprint for the reform of Russia's
electricity monopoly UES [Unified Energy System] as proposed by the government
and opposed the import of spent nuclear fuel to Russia. In response to
the reform of housing and utilities services in the interests of oligarchs,
Yabloko came up with its own draft reform of benefit to most Russians.
"In December 2001, delegates from 69 Russian regions voted to transform
Yabloko into a nationwide democratic party."
The video then cut to an interview with Yavlinsky, as broadcast previously:
"I once had a conversation with the president. I said: Yes, Vladimir
Vladimirovich [Putin], about 90 per cent of Russian voters vote for you
- it is true - and only 10 per cent for me. But these 10 per cent are
so valuable that without them your 90 per cent will not be able to do
anything."
In conclusion, the voice-over said: "They have stood their ground,
have not given in to the authorities and have not given up their principles.
They have survived. They will win." Video: Yavlinsky with his arms
raised in a gesture of victory.
See also:
State Duma elections
2003
| 