| MOSCOW, February 20. 'YABLOKO is the only party in Russia
whose convention decided not to support Vladimir Putin in the presidential
elections,' YABLOKO leader Grigory
Yavlinsky asserted on Ekho Moskvi radio. He also noted that the party
convention had officially labelled the coming elections 'dishonest, unjust
and undemocratic.'
Yavlinsky said YABLOKO adopted a compromise policy with President Putin
in the wake of September 11, 2001, had worked with him in seeking ways
to realize what was most important for Russia. 'We especially supported
the president during that most difficult time and specifically in the
struggle against international terrorism. It was extremely important that
Russia take the right decision and not end up left out,' Yavlinsky insisted.
However, he said, 'as time went on, the area for compromise began to narrow
and, in the last analysis, this led us to choose not to accept the presidential
elections.'
“To have democratic elections, at least three conditions must
be met: a relatively independent judicial system, in other words an independent
referee for the elections. There have to be independent nationwide media
organizations. And there has to be the possibility of independent sources
of financing,' the YABLOKO leader said. No election can be considered
democratic, if these three conditions are not met, even minimally. Not
one of them is met today in Russia, Yavlinsky asserted.
See also:
Presidential elections
2004
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