Another attempt

The leader of the Russian People's Democratic Union, Mikhail Kasyanov, said in an online interview with Gazeta.Ru that his association plans to enter into a coalition with Yabloko in order to be able to participate in the upcoming elections. “We in the People’s Democratic Union, unlike other organizations of the democratic flank, still consider Yabloko to be a party independent of the authorities, and therefore we suggested that Yabloko create a political coalition today in order to spend the time remaining before the election date joint political work as the RNDS-Yabloko coalition,” Kasyanov said. Since the authorities “have not yet taken away” Yabloko’s license to participate in elections, the RNDS, according to Kasyanov, could “enter the process of preparing the vote using the technical license of the Yabloko party.”

This is far from the first attempt by one democratic association to enter into an alliance with another. Until now, the RNDS and Yabloko have not been able to join the coalition.