by Svetlana Prokudina, specially for the website, 7.10.2018

Today Yabloko Chair Emilia Slabunova celebrates her birthday. Emilia Edgardovna dedicated many years of her life to Petrozavodsk [capital of the Republic of Karelia] where she started her career as a teacher. Later she became the headmaster of a lyceum and a candidate for the city mayor. Today Emilia Deputy is Yabloko Chair and deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia. The anniversary of the party head coincides with in important date in the history of the organisation – the 25th anniversary of Yabloko’s foundation. Emilia Slabunova gave an interview to Yabloko.ru where she recalls her first steps in politics and names the main goals of the party.

– Emilia Edgardovna, Yabloko’s history began in 1993. What were you doing then?

– I was a teacher in 1993. I started working at lyceum No 1 after I left Petrozavodsk Сivil Engineering College. I was teaching history to the fifth-grade students in a private school and philosophy to senior students in the lyceum.

– How did you find yourself in Petrozavodsk?

– My husband was sent to work there [there was an obligatory job distribution system in the Soviet Union]. He graduated form Moscow Satte University and was sent to the Karelian Scientific Centre. When we moved to Karelia in 1980 I had no idea I would have a political career. However, I have always been very active: I headed the academic society at university and was a monitor of the ethnographic club. During school years I was a Komsomol activist.

– When did you come to politics for the first time?

– It was in the 1990s. I participated in the elections to the city council. I was nominated by the Avangard bloc. My rival was the head of a large development company. He was very patronising. I was a teacher at that time. I heard he would say that running against a rival like me was no big deal. He was mistaken as I gained more votes than him. However, none of us was elected because the majority voted against all the candidates.

– So, when were you elected?

– I was elected to Petrozavodsk City Council for the first time in 2001. There was a by-election since one of the deputies became Deputy Mayor. I had six men as rival and I managed to win.

– Did you realise at the that time that your life would never be the same again? 

– No, of course I did not. My term in office expired in 2004. I was working on my PhD and for this reason missed some election campaigns. Although, I joined Yabloko in 2003. However, I needed to defend my thesis. In 2006 I participated in the elections to the Legislative Assembly as part of Yabloko team. Our list of candidates was withdrawn from elections. It took us ten years to prove that that action was unlawful. We appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. In December 2916, after ten years, the court confirmed that our list of candidates was withdrawn unlawfully. I also participated in the elections to the Legislative Assembly in 2011. I headed the party list. We managed to gain a good result and form a faction of four deputies.

– Why did you join Yabloko back then in 2003?

– First, I really liked Yabloko’s programme. Second, we had. Avery interesting team in Karelia. Not only we shared the same idea but we were friends. I valued an opportunity to be part of that team and  participate in politics of the city and republic together.

– You were elected Yabloko Chair in 2015. Why do you think Grigory Yavlinsky nominated your candidacy for this role?

– You need to ask Grigory Alexeyevich this question. I think I was the right person at that moment to deal with the issues which the party, and the country, faced. They needed to be addressed.

– Did you expect that the delegates would support you?

– I never think of it. I prefer to work hard. I know that our party members are very smart and responsible people. If the make a decision, they make it consciously. This is why I was ready for any outcome. I always try to answer my team’s expectations when I need to solve a problem. I am a team worker. I believe you can hardly achieve anything nowadays if you are alone. Only teams can gain a serious result. If our a team you do not simply share the same ideas. You have to be prepared to deal with any issue and step in for your colleagues if they cannot do their work at present for one reason or another.

– What goal did you set when you became the party Chair?

– My priory was to bring changes to the party. This includes involving young people in party activities and developing their leadership qualities so that they would be able to take over in the future.

– A large number of young people joined Yabloko in recent years. What do you think attracts them?

– True, many amazing young people join our branches in Moscow and other regions. There is a reason for this. Our party supports European values. What is more, we disapprove of Russia’s efficient foreign policy which almost  brought our country on the very of war. Our anti-war stance finds support among young people too. There are many young people who stand for democracy and liberalism. This is why they like our party. Besides, Yabloko has a long history and a good reputation. Young people realise that our party is sustainable, that we do not give up on our principles even in a difficult political environment like this. It is of interest to all people who have common sense. We really count on the support of young people and that they will bring new ideas to Yabloko. Thanks to this the party has a future.

– If a woman comes into politics she should forget she is a woman in a way, otherwise she will not succeed. Do you agree with this opinion?

– It does not matter whether you are man or a woman. If you enter politics you must be very strong. Especially if you ar win opposition to the government. This rule does not only apply to politics. If you participate in public life you must have a  stance, be ready to act and have a will. You must be principled, tough, motivated, be ready to make decisions and be able to focus.

– What were the main challenges that you faced in politics? 

– The hardest thing is prosecution that opposition parties, Yabloko in the first place, have to deal with. It is hard when they try to dent your reputation. However, there is nothing they can face me with. Although they can make something up and publish it in a newspaper that has 70,000 copies, for example. This is exactly the number of flats in Petrozavodsk which received newspapers that had my photograph on the first page and a title “Slabunova, a friend of Berezovsky” [translator’s note: Boris Berezovsky, an oligarch from the closest circle of President Boris Yeltsin who allegedly was behind many of the Kremlin’s decisions. He moved to the UK after a conflict with the Russian government. He died in London in 2013]. Or do something else of this kind.  But this is not the worst thing. The worst thing is when they try to break your team, when they conceal your success and achievements. I was the headmaster of a lyceum which showed very good results both on the domestic and international level. Our students won different contests and completions. We won the “Education” national award for the best educational system. This information was not covered by mass media on purpose. My colleagues were upset because the results of our hard work were not displayed for public estimation. Furthermore, sometimes I nominated teachers for some awards. I knew they fully deserved them but their candidacies were put aside because the headmaster of the school where they work is member of an opposition party. This is very hard to bear.

–   To be honest, I though you would name the Petrozavodsk Mayoral elections 2013 as the main challenge because you were withdrawn from them. 

– Why? Quite the contrary, it was a most happy time because we won the elections after all. Though it was very cynical and low [of the authorities] to do so. My withdrawn from the elections was groundless. They did it almost a week before the elections. Our team and the election headquarters worked very hard and made much effort.  We had over 2,000 volunteers who helped us and campaigned. It was a very big disappointment that so much work that already brought an efficient result was vain. However, we managed to with Galina Shirshina who was our second candidate [she registered as a candidate to take over in case of Slabunova’s withdrawal]. We managed to change the whole campaign strategy in a week. As a result we won and were very happy about it.

– However, there were two years of constant struggle waiting for you. 

– Yes, that is true. Despite the aggressive environment Galina Shirshina found herself in, she managed to make many improvements and achieve serious results. The support of public organisations, active citizens, public figures and business also helped us. Business representative realised that they have the mayor who truly wants to create all the conditions for entrepreneurs so that they would be able to contribute to the improvement of the city. We got an opportunity to lay the foundation for serious city projects which could have brought many positive changes. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the time to bring them to life.  Over the course of a year after Shirshina was removed from her post I received letters from people who wanted to realise a project but could no longer do it because the new leadership did not care about it.

–  Let’s talk about Yabloko. What stage do you think the party is going through?

– The party is gathering strength. I would characterise it this way. There is a renewal process. It is the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the party. We have come a long way. We played and are still playing a serious role in the history of our country. We realise that we should step into a new historical phase having carried out reforms. We need a transformation. We need new people and young people to rejuvenate the party and its leadership. We also need to adopt new methods, especially when it comes to addressing our voters. We need more efficient and modern methods, new management principles and improve the quality of our work of the party regional branches. We are actively working on this at the moment.

– Some people are sceptical about Yabloko’s work. What can you do to change their mind?

– You see, there are several reasons why people are sceptical. This is not only about our work, though we definitely need many improvements. We have an issue with communication. We need to take a more active part in elections despite fraud, meddling and little change to succeed. Nevertheless, there are exceptions. It is possible to have a breakthrough if we make as much effort as possible. But there are other things that make it harder for a political party to function. [The authorities] fight democracy with fake democracy. This is why it is sometimes hard for voters to tell real apportion from a fake one. I am not simply talking about the fake opposition in parliament but a spectrum of other parties that are, let’s put it like this, the product of the Kremlin too. Moreover, there are some public chambers, councils, people’s fronts and other fake organisations. Their members are selected on the basis of their loyalty and abide by United Russia’s instructions. These structures lack real public control not to mention the opposition. At times it is difficult to explain to the voters that there is no way that these organisations may solve their problems. We face this problem quite often. For example, during the presidential campaign I visited Fryazino [a town in the Moscow Region]. I was invited to a meeting about [the future] of the local library. The head of the Public Chamber stood up and said: “Do not listen to political parties representative. They want your votes. It is us who will save your library.” So, I had to explain that promises like this should not be trusted. These are empty hopes. Why did it come to a situation that an important social structure is under the threat of being closed down. This way we make much effort to explain to our voters that there is a difference between real politicians who are even ready to sacrifice their freedom to help them and fake public organisations.

– Emilia Edgardovna, this is my last question. What is Yabloko for you today? 

– Yabloko is a team of very honest and brave people who are ready to stand up for their stance despite all obstacles and resistance. They do it because they really care about Russia’s future. They see the potential of our country – our people and resources – which could make Russia one of the world leaders. Not this declarative leadership that our President proclaims for the screens but a real one. This is about the improvement of life standards, wellbeing and development, the feeling of satisfaction and pride for our country and respect on behalf of the global community. This is what gives strength to our team despite all difficulties.