A second meeting of the elected municipal deputies took place in Yabloko, 15.09.2017

On 14th September, a second meeting of the elected municipal deputies and the party leadership took place in Yabloko office. Yabloko decided to ask the participants of the meeting why they decided to run in the elections as Yabloko candidates, what problems they faced during the election campaign and what their plans for the future are.

Anrdei Morev, the Yakimanka district

I think that Yabloko is the last democratic force in Russia which is capable of functioning, three are no others, this is my opinion.

I’ve been going to the rallies since I turned 20 years of age. This year I decided to go from “We are the power here” slogan to action in order to try change something and make an attempt to become this power, to change our city for the better at first, and then we will see.

We knocked on the doors of 4,250 flats. Actually, the number is understated, we visited more flats. About 1200-1300 people opened their doors. We’ve been campaigning for a month.

We have a majority in our council, we will make our own council and elect our own head. We already have a plan that consists of 25 points. Our main aim is to show that the democrats can work well so that the people would vote for Yabloko again in 5 years time.

Dmitry Boldyrev, the Konkovo district

I decided to run as a Yabloko’s candidates because it is the oldest democratic party that is held in respect in my district. I decided to gain Yabloko’s support in the election and won with its help.

I had to organise the campaign in the summer time when people are out of the city. If the campaign took lace in March or in winter it would have bee easier for us, we would not have to develop our own strategy to win the elections.

The residents in the district had a positive attitude to Yabloko. They said they would like to see Yabloko’s success in the future and the renewal of the party.

I used to resist the illegal development in the district as an ordinary citizen. Now I thank that I will be able to do more as a deputy. This status will help me to make a difference.

We are facing hard work now, we are having meetings to elect our head of the municipal council. It is likely to be so because we have a majority and we are trying to preserve our team. I believe in us.

Denis Prokuronov, the Filevsky district

In the beginning of the year I made a decision to participate in the municipal elections. From the beginning I knew that I would run as a Yabloko candidate because my whole family supports Yabloko – I’ve heard about the party ever since I was a child. In read the programmes and goals of the party, they reflect my own views.

I think that young people should be represented in local self-government bodies. I think I will enter politics and begin with my district.

Four Yabloko’s deputies, one Parnas deputy and an independent deputy were elected in our district. So, we have six deputies out of ten. We agree that we should not allow the United Russia party to take the leading positions. Now we are fighting against it.

There are lot of issues in the district that need to be solved. I want to change the format of communication with the residents, cooperate with public organisations, deal with requests in a quick and modern way avoiding bureaucracy.


Yana Sokolova, the Lomonosovsky district

We had a success taking the majority of seats in the council – 6 Yabloko candidates were elected. The first meeting will take place next week.

I decided to run as a Yabloko candidate because I share the views of the party and I had no doubts about signing the Memorandum after I read it.

On the whole, the voters had a positive attitude to Yabloko. In our district there was a tendency that candidates gained more votes because they were running as Yabloko nominees.

I think that after we were elected the residents of the district will notice that the budget funds are spent sensibly.

Yevgenia Gershberg, the Troparyevo-Nikulino distirct

We are extremely lucky – our neighbours and local activists supported us.

We did not have a single deputy who acted in favour of the residents. And we have a lot of issues to solve, for instance, we are struggling against illegal construction. We conducted a lot of rallies, pickets, we have our own newspaper, a website, a large district group. We are the local activists who did a lot.

Now we have 10 seats out of 10. Nine Yabloko deputies and one independent deputy who supports the party.

There were times when we came to the municipal council meetings and were forced out. Then deputies held the door and called us extremists. Now the situation has changed a lot.


Gordei Nefedov, the Lomonosovsky district

Our team consists of 8 people. All these people were elected to the council. We are all related to the district. I’ve been dealing with housing and utilities issue in my district for more than five years now.

Yabloko stands for the rights of the people in Moscow, therefore I decided to participate in the elections as a Yabloko candidate.

We conducted a door-to-door campaign. The elder generation was surprised: “The last time we saw candidates going from door to door was in the Soviet Union times. Thank you!”.

Konstantin Yelokhov, the Gagarinsky district

I am an activist in the Gagarinsky district. We were struggling against the illegal land surveying of apartment blocks at No 4 and No 6 Stroiteley Ulitsa. The developers tried to conduct an infill construction in the middle of our yard but we prevented it.

Our team knocked on the doors of 8,000 flats. I myself visited nearly 1,500 flats.

Now we have the majority – 12 deputies out of 12. We ensured the 29 per cent voters turnout. We are real activists and people know us.

Anna Desyatova, the Danilovsky district

I share democratic views and I think that Russia should be developing as a democratic country.
Today the efforts of local activists are very often fruitless, they need some certain political and institutional support. Deputies can help the activists.

We promoted Yabloko as an alternative to the current government because a lot of people do disprove of it and they listened with interest.

Vladimir Zhidkov, Prospect Vernadskogo

I like Yabloko activities and the people who are involved in them, therefore I decided to run in the elections as a Yabloko candidate and I think I made the right choice. We only have two deputies out of ten in the council but I think that we will learn how to cooperate with other deputies in favour of the Vernadsky district.

Anastasia Muralova, the Izmaylosky district
I decided to become Yabloko’s nominee because this is the only party the stance of which I share. The most difficult thing was to overcome my fear, go from door to door and talk to the voters.

Nine deputies out of twelve are not from the ruling party. I hope that we go through all our disagreements about electing the council head, that we make a good team and than probably we will be able to do a lot for the district.

Yabloko had a very good result in the Moscow municipal elections winning 176 mandates, which made Yabloko the second largest party in Moscow (after the ruling United Russia party). The leaders of Yabloko and its Moscow branch also participated in the meeting with the elected deputies. Read about the first meeting