Press Release, 11.03.2020

Photo: Nikolai Rybakov picketing by the State Duma

Today, on 11 March, Yabloko holds pickets by the State Duma and the Federation Council against usurpation of power by Vladimir Putin. It is expected that the parliament will finally approve amendments to the Constitution today, including resetting of the presidential term for Vladimir Putin.

Before the action Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov sent all the State Duma deputies and members of the Federation Council a 36 pages long legal opinion by the Yabloko Centre for Legislative Initiatives, which proves that there were a number of gross violations in the process of amending the Basic Law.

“The numerous legal and ideological contradictions that are contained in the current draft law not only undermine the spirit and violate the logic of the current Constitution, but also become a time bomb for the constitutional foundations of our state,” the letter to the document runs.

Today, Nikolai Rybakov and party activists are picketing the State Duma and the Federation Council. “It depends only on the citizens of our country how long the amendments that the Duma and the Federation Council are adopting today will be in force. When millions of people stand up and say, “we are against such lawlessness”, it will stop. And we are working to bring this day closer,” Rybakov says.

Photo: Ivan Bolshakov at a picket by the Federation Council

Ivan Bolshakov, Deputy Chairman of Yabloko, also took part in the action. “It is indecent to rule for life in the 21st century,” he notes. “Resetting the presidential terms is a usurpation of power. Therefore, the duty of every free person is to withstand the anti-constitutional coup that is happening before our eyes at the tacit consent of deputies and senators.”

A series of one-person pickets (that do not require any permission from the authorities) was held by the State Duma yesterday, when the lower house of the Russian parliament was considering amendments to the Constitution in the second reading.

On Thursady, March 12, when regional parliaments will be approving the amendments, Yabloko will pickets regional parliaments in most Russian regions. In Moscow, the action will be held by the Moscow City Duma at two addresses: Strastnoy Boulevard 15/29 and Uspensky Lane, 14 bldg. 1. Picketing will start at 11:00 a.m.