At the pre-election congress of the Yabloko party in Moscow, party chairman Nikolai Rybakov presented its platform for the State Duma elections. According to the event broadcast, the platform is centered on a rapid ceasefire agreement, preventing nuclear escalation, promoting diplomacy and negotiations, ensuring freedom of information, and ending repression.
The congress is taking place in the capital, where the party is expected to nominate candidates for the State Duma and regional legislatures. The nomination procedure itself is being held behind closed doors, while the party said it would publish the candidate lists on June 28. The visual theme of the congress is built around the slogans “For peace and freedom!” and “For an immediate ceasefire agreement!”.
Rybakov said the party was entering the election with “the shortest, but most important program in its history.”
As the party leader said, the platform includes several main points:
- a rapid ceasefire agreement;
- rejecting any movement toward nuclear war;
- diplomacy and negotiations;
- freedom of communication and access to information;
- recognition of the value of human life;
- freedom from fear and repression.
Rybakov described the election as a way for citizens to legally express their attitude toward the current political course. In his view, voting for Yabloko should become a way to say “no” to the continuation of the war, mobilization, repression, and isolation. He separately mentioned the political persecution of party supporters, including Maksim Kruglov, Lev Shlosberg, and Mikhail Afanasyev.
In his speech, Grigory Yavlinsky compared the upcoming election to a referendum. He said the main question is not how many party representatives will make it into the State Duma, but how many Russians want “a different policy” that does not threaten their children and their future.
Earlier, Yabloko politicians in various Russian regions were charged under the article on displaying extremist symbols over posts mentioning Alexei Navalny. Because of those accusations, they lost the ability to run in elections. This week, party deputy chairman Maksim Kruglov was sentenced to seven years in a penal colony over posts about Bucha and Mariupol, while deputy chairman Lev Shlosberg was arrested in a criminal case over alleged “fake news.” Party member Nikolai Markin was released under travel restrictions.