Translated material
Seven troubles - one answer
Grigory Yavlinsky unveiled his presidential program
Yesterday, Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky, at a round table, presented to the public the program “Seven Steps to Equality of Opportunity,” with which he will go to the presidential elections , and the party to the parliamentary elections. Yabloko members invited to the discussion political scientists and journalists who managed to criticize their program, in particular, an ardent supporter of the current government, editor-in-chief of the Profile magazine Mikhail Leontyev and columnist for the Vedomosti newspaper Konstantin Sonin. However, most critics ignored the event. “Since they didn’t come, it means they support us. Although, of course, they still won’t vote for us,” Grigory Yavlinsky told the audience.Yabloko's program is divided into two parts. The first talks about the seven main troubles of modern Russia. The second part is called “Welfare for All,” which, according to Yabloko supporters, will certainly come if their party comes to power. It talks about the priority steps to eliminate troubles. The main troubles of Yabloko include: authoritarian, corrupt government, dependence on raw materials, conservation of general poverty, mass lack of rights, continuation of criminal privatization, the prospect of insurmountable backwardness and departure to the third world, the looming threat of a systemic crisis, social explosion and collapse of the state. The following steps are proposed: restoration of the foundations of democracy, reform of the state apparatus and separation of business from government; creation of mass ownership and guarantees of the inviolability of private property; payment by the state of debt to citizens; support for mass entrepreneurship; wage reform and labor rights guarantees; curbing monopolies; investments in education, ecology and medicine.
All these measures, according to Mr. Yavlinsky, will help solve the main strategic task - preserving the country within its current borders in the 21st century.
“We have a chance to win the elections,” the Yabloko leader told the round table participants. - But in order for these chances to be realized, several conditions are needed. First, we must clearly say that we are a democratic opposition. Secondly, we must say that we are against the policies of Vladimir Putin. Over the course of eight years, he has carried out a series of authoritarian reforms that promise the country systemic crises that will throw Russia back to the periphery of development.”
Preparations for the elections for the Yabloko leader may be overshadowed by the emergence of internal party opposition. Mr. Yavlinsky's official nomination for the presidential election campaign is due to take place at a party congress. So far, only the federal council has taken place, at which a corresponding declaration was adopted. However, Grigory Yavlinsky may not be the only Yabloko candidate. Former deputy of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg from the Yabloko faction, Sergei Gulyaev, was nominated on Monday as a presidential candidate at its founding conference by the national movement “People” that he heads. Mr. Gulyaev did not rule out that his candidacy will be proposed as a single one from the opposition coalition “The Other Russia” (at the moment, in addition to Mr. Yavlinsky, the former Prime Minister of Russia Mikhail Kasyanov, ex- head of the Central Bank Viktor Gerashchenko and Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky). “However, there will be no dependence on the decision of the Other Russia, and in any case I will run,” said Mr. Gulyaev.
“Gulyaev is the person who can become a consolidating figure,” Alexei Navalny, one of the leaders of “People” and deputy chairman of the Moscow regional branch of “Yabloko,” told a Vremya Novostey correspondent. - Yes, he does not have a high rating or recognition. But a candidate with a zero rating and an anti-rating is better than a candidate with a rating of 1% and an anti-rating of 31%. In addition, Gulyaev was on the Yabloko list and in the Yabloko faction, and he will most likely be supported by The Other Russia.
It is worth noting that Grigory Yavlinsky has repeatedly spoken negatively about the “Other Russia”. According to a source in the Yabloko party, the party leader is against Gulyaev’s nomination. Youth Yabloko and several adult Yabloko members are in favor of organizing internal party primaries to determine a single candidate, but the leadership does not approve of this idea.
Contradictions between youth and adult Yabloko also emerged in the issue of reappointing Yuri Luzhkov to the post of mayor of Moscow. The regional council of Moscow Yabloko decided to support Mr. Luzhkov, but young Yabloko members categorically disagree with this. “We are convinced that Yabloko, as a democratic opposition to the Moscow government and a consistent critic of the United Russia party, cannot under any circumstances support the appointment of Yuri Luzhkov to this post,” said Yabloko youth leader Ilya Yashin.