Press Release, 30.03.2022

Photo: The Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg / Photo by the Yabloko Party Press Service

The Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg refused to include Alexander Shishlov, head of the Yabloko faction, in the Committee on Legislation of the city parliament, and Boris Vishnevsky, deputy head of the faction, in the Committee on Budget and Finance.

“For the second convocation in a row, the candidacies of Yabloko for parliamentary committees have been declined solely for political reasons, despite the undeniable level of professionalism and work experience of the Yabloko representatives. “We need not smart people, but faithful ones,” as the Strugatsky science-fiction authors wrote,” Boris Vishnevsky noted.

“Yabloko proposed that all factions be guaranteed representation in the committees. The decision not to allow Yabloko to fully participate in the work of the committees adopted by the parliamentary majority showed disrespect for the people of St. Petersburg – voters and supporters of the Yabloko party,” Alexander Shishlov emphasised.

It should be noted that on 16 March, 2022, there were adopted amendments to the Resolution of the Legislative Assembly “On the Formation of Bodies of the Legislative Assembly of the Seventh Convocation”, which increases the number of commissions from seven to ten, and provides factions the right to delegate their representatives to the committees of the city parliament. According to the new procedure, parliamentary committees include per one representative from all the ten commissions and four deputies nominated by factions. The factions put forward five candidates for each committee. The rating voting demonstrated that Yabloko representatives turned out to be undesirable for the parliamentary majority as committees members.

ALEXANDER SHISHLOV

is head of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg

BORIS VISHNEVSKY

is Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko Party, member of the Yabloko Federal Political Committee and  Bureau, and an MP of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg