The question of the opposition winning elections is actually very simple and very concrete. It comes down to one thing: allowing the opposition onto the ballot. And even right now, in these specific historical circumstances: allowing our party onto the ballot. Whatever it may be called: “People’s Alliance,” or (after a name theft) the “Progress Party,” or (after yet another name theft) the “Russia of the Future” party.
If our party is registered, it will easily clear the threshold both at the federal level and in any regional legislative assembly. And then it will fight for a majority.
If it is not registered, every election will follow the same script. The “opposition” will be represented by Yabloko and, God forgive me, “Sobchak’s party,” which, even with money and favorable coverage from the federal TV channels, are incapable of winning more than 1% of the vote. Nowhere. Never. Under any circumstances.
Even in Moscow, in the last presidential election, Yavlinsky and Sobchak received fewer votes than Zhirinovsky—something that had never happened before in history: that in the capital, those who call themselves “democrats” would get fewer votes than the LDPR (Liberal Democratic Party of Russia).
That is why the opposition’s task is not to keep inventing endless idiotic schemes of “unity,” but to demand electoral access for everyone who wants to run.
We are demanding the registration of our party. And we are now trying to register it for the seventh time.
Putin is afraid of our party and does not want to register it for the seventh time. We have just received notice that the registration has been suspended. Read it—even someone who is not a lawyer will find plenty to laugh at.
What do we think about this?
In general, grounds for refusing registration can include a party charter’s contradiction of the law. This justification contains a lot of filler, but all the alleged contradictions are built on far-fetched constructions by the Ministry of Justice, and point 7 in particular resembles a circular paradox: in order to hold a general meeting of a party’s regional branch, members of the party registered with the party’s regional apparatus must assemble, but that apparatus itself can be created only by a general meeting of the branch. And some of the grounds on which the registration was suspended can be found in recently registered charters of existing parties.
We will correct all of these “violations,” convene a new party congress, and once the stated grounds for suspending registration have been removed, they will be obliged to register our party.
We are confident that we are right. We have no illusions. Putin does not want to register a party that would defeat his United Russia party.
The party-electoral format of political struggle clearly cannot be the main one right now, but we will continue to develop this line of work as well.
We will continue to stand our ground.