Alexander Gnezdilov, Deputy Chairman of the YABLOKO party, 9.06.2016

The world around us is changing rapidly. Alternative energy, shale revolution… I want my country to be not simply ready for this changes. I want Russia to become a leader in this process.

We have not only natural resources, but also talented people, great culture, capable of becoming an engine of economic and social development, natural beauty, and research and development.

A knowledge-based economy, rise of living standards and quality of life, improvement and development of our country – these are the factors for preservation of the country in the 21st century, the conditions for Russia becoming of the leading countries of the century. Instead, the government of the country has been engaged in arming to the teeth, closing schools, hospitals, maternity hospitals, libraries, houses of culture … We are at a dangerous turn – the possibility of war and the threat of underdevelopment.

But time and history do not wait for latecomers. Development of the personality is today not as important as the development of mineral resources. If the economy miss the change of techno-economic paradigm developing in the world right now, we will lose another two or three decades and will remain in the outskirts of the world.

This means that we need, right here and now you, such a government that will have due diligence and proper understanding of the problems of today’s social and human development, economy and politics. We need people who would be aware of the challenges out country faces today, and who would be able to respond to these challenges substantively and adequately.

The key quality of the country’s leader should be not only the will, not only experience, courage and patience, but also a vision, a vision of prospects for the country, its way to the future. Here we need not only a strong hand, but a clever brain. Today, more than ever, the country needs an intellectual in the Kremlin.

Life requires from the government a different level of knowledge, a different level of thinking, a different level of culture and morality. Mistakes, primitive schemes and outdated approaches to common sense, should be abolished for clear understanding of the exuberant complexity of today’s world.

Who can restore stability, ensure peace and domestic development, bring freedom to people and prospects for the future, make politics predictable and humane? Who as President of Russia will have enough governing experience, intelligence, honesty, respect for the country and for each individual life, respect for every human being, knowledge of real conditions of life and the ability to think globally so that to respond adequately to the challenges that time and history present to Russia?

My answer is: Grigory Yavlinsky. And this answer gives me hope.