Yabloko

Yabloko (Russian Яблоко ), officially Russian Democratic Party Yabloko (Russian: Российская Демократическая Партия Яблоко / Rossiyskaya Demokratitscheskaja Partija Yabloko ), is a liberal Russian party. Yabloko means in Russian apple, so this is often used as a symbol of the party.

Substantive Profile

Through their political goals, Yabloko positioned as socially liberal / left-liberal party:

• Tax Reform
• Debureaucratisation
• Free competition with protection for entrepreneurs
• New pension system
• Active Social Policy

A large role in the politics of the opposition Yabloko has against the government of President Vladimir Putin.

Internal structure

The supreme body in Yabloko is the party congress, the ongoing work on the board between the party conferences executes the Central Council of the party, which is headed by party chairman. As another organ works since 2008 the Political Committee, developed the basic stances of the party and can suspend the party leader.

The party is represented in about two-thirds of Russian regions with local organizations.

History of the Party

Yabloko was constituted in 1993 as a constituency association and was on 5 January 1995 to a regular party. It represents a moderately liberal, partly socially liberal program. The name literally means apple ( яблоко ), but he is originated from the abbreviation of the origins of the name of the party founder Grigory Yavlinsky, Yuri Boldyrev and Vladimir Lukin. Yavlinsky was its chairman until 2008.

The influence of the party has been declining since the mid-nineties back continuously. In the elections of 1993, she still reached 7.9% and 27 seats, in 1995 6.9% and 45 seats, in 1999 6.0% and 20 seats. Until his arrest, the party was financially supported among others by Mikhail Khodorkovsky. 2003 failed, the party is in opposition to President Putin, with 4.3% at the five percent hurdle, but was represented by four candidates directly elected in the Duma. In the 2007 parliamentary elections the party received only 1.6 % of the vote. Since the direct election of a part of the deputies had been abolished in the run-up to the election, the party also lost so that their remaining four deputies.

The longtime chairman Yavlinsky was replaced at the head of the party in June 2008 by Sergei Mitrokhin.

In the Duma elections in 2011 Yabloko achieved its best result since 2000 with 3.43% of votes, and announced the candidacy of Grigory Yavlinsky on the presidential elections on March 4, 2012. He was refused admission to the presidential election in January 2012 because, according to the Russian election line about 25% of the two million supporters signatures were forged.

Prominent members

• Grigory Yavlinsky ( longtime Chairman)
• Sergei Mitrokhin (current Chairman)
• Yuri Schtschekotschichin, journalist of Novaya Gazeta
• Sergei Kovalev ( civil rights )
• Vladimir Lukin (co-founder, current chairman of the Foreign Duma Committee )
• Yuri Boldyrev (co-founder )
• Igor Artemyev ( deputy, Lieutenant Governor of Saint-Petersburg)