Statement by the Yabloko Bureau, 14.01.2022

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The Bureau of the Yabloko party believes that the campaign to abolish elections on a party list basis, which has unfolded in many cities and regions of Russia in recent years, represents an attempt by the bankrupt ruling party to maintain a political monopoly and secure their fabricated majority.

Elections based on party lists (according to the proportional electoral system) allow to ensure representation of voters who hold different political views and support different political forces in legislative and representative bodies of state power and local self-government. Such elections make it possible not to lose the votes of citizens, in contrast to elections under the majoritarian electoral system, where all those who voted for unelected candidates are deprived of their political representation.

We consider it necessary to protect the rights of voters which [the ruling United Russia party] intends to infringe by the rejection of party lists. Such actions of the United Russia party destroy political competition and multi-party system, and deprive the citizens of our country of choice. We are confident that these actions represent a reaction to the mass discontent of voters, who have been increasingly voting against the ruling party.

Now, at the initiative of the Mayor’s Office, they want to completely cancel party lists in the elections to the municipality of one of the most protest cities in Russia – Yaroslavl, where United Russia showed one of the worst results in the past elections to the State Duma (26%). Instead of dialogue with citizens, the authorities are fighting the protest with the help of administrative resources, pushing through a system according to which “the winner takes it all”.

The Yabloko party categorically opposes political monopoly. We are consistently fighting for the preservation of party lists in elections to legislative and representative bodies of power and local self-government, abolition of the municipal filter in gubernatorial elections and return of direct elections of city mayors. We are ready to interact with other political parties on these issues.

The Yabloko party calls on all caring citizens and politicians of the Yaroslavl region to advocate for the preservation of party lists at public hearings on 20 January. Today it is being decided who should determine the future of Yaroslavl – free citizens or officials who will help to the candidates approved by the authorities to get into the city duma.

Nikolai Rybakov,

Yabloko Chairman