Sergei Mitrokhin, a member of YABLOKO Federal Political Committee, 06.06.2016

The YABLOKO party continues preparing for the State Duma elections. And a question from our voters on “What will the the presence of the party faction in the State Duma change?” sounds quite correct. At the moment the [ruling] United Russia’s deputies and their obedient satellites [from other three factions] make the majority in the Duma. All the most inhuman laws were adopted by the United Russia party together with the Communist Party, the LDPR and Just Russia.  Thought not a long time ago these parties identified themselves as an opposition.

The resistance to the cannibalistic bills will not be the only activity of YABLOKO in the Duma. The Putin’s regime has led the country to the situation when only the head of the state can change the political and economic situation in the country. And the incumbent authorities who are in fact the service staff of Putin’s friends-oligarchs do not have the wish to change anything.

The formation of the party faction in the parliament will become the springboard to fulfil the main task – to succeed in the presidential elections of 2018. And we already have our candidate – Grigory Yavlinsky.

I have known Grigory Yavlinsky and have worked with him for many years. We worked together in the State Duma at the times when it was a place for discussion. At that time Yavlinsky demonstrated how much a professional economist is needed in politics. It is already enough to say that he predicted the default of 1998 with strict accuracy. Year after year the YABLOKO faction in the State Duma voted against the budget estimates since they were based on the financial pyramid of the state treasury bills which, according to Yavlinsky, would definitely lead to a default. And the projection came true one hundred pre cent.

He directly  participated in the adoption of the laws which were key for the development of Russia. The party proposed tens of bills (the Budgetary and Electoral Codes, the laws on the Central Bank, joint stock companies, security papers, financial basis of the local self-government and others) which have become the foundation of the country’s financial life.

At the same time the party and Yavlinsky criticized both the Government, which was carrying out the policy of badly-considered reforms, and the opposition represented by the Communist Party and the LDPR whose proposals were frequently less competent and more populist.

Yavlinsky was the only political leader who opposed the war in Chechnya. The military operations cost a lot both to the state and the Russian society. The militaristic hysteria lead to the establishment of an unconstitutional dictatorship in Chechnya. As a result, the situation grew even worse in comparison with what could have taken place if the the authorities managed to come to an agreement with Maskhadov peacefully…

The degradation of the political system in the country started after the election fraud in 2003 which prevented YABLOKO from entering the parliament. Today the degradation has resulted into a permanent economic and social crisis.

All these years we together with Grigory Yavlisnky have been upholding the citizens’ rights which are being violated by the federal and local authorities. Very often even a smallest problem cannot be solved without turning directly to the President or the Federal Government. It is obvious that we need a faction in the State Duma as well as the participation and the victory in the presidential elections to return Russia to the European way of development.

YABLOKO nominates not only its [parliamentary] candidates’ list but it presidential candidate who has demonstrated his honesty and adherence to his principles in practice. We can stop the processes of isolation and destabilisation of Russia started by the incumbent Russian authorities, overcome the economic and political crisis only this way.