...For the current foreign policy course of the “energy superpower,” based on a pragmatic approach to solving problems, coercive pressure, and personal relationships, there is no need whatsoever for the presence of an opposition in parliament. .... We must now resolve extraordinarily difficult and important tasks for ourselves and for the party: .... Answer the question of how to take part in elections that have been turned into a farce—when the result is practically known in advance. If the State Duma elections were held today, we should not take part in them. To the members of the Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO. To the Party’s primary, local, and regional branches. To the heads of structural subdivisions— for the organization of discussion. Dear colleagues, dear friends, A serious and comprehensive political discussion is underway within the party about our role and place in today’s Russia, and about how to participate in elections under the current conditions. Deliberately distorted and truncated information about this discussion in the mass media compels me to address you with this letter. The situation in Russia is changing, and we are facing ever new challenges. Recently, a number of events have taken place that substantially alter the country’s political atmosphere. The worsening of relations with Georgia and the anti-Georgian campaign in Moscow and the regions—practically ethnic cleansing—are bringing the country to a dangerous line, beyond which lies fascism. The murder of Anna Politkovskaya and the reaction to it by the head of state show that the ruling group not only isolates and marginalizes its political opponents, but also permits their physical elimination. The clearing of the political field has begun for the party of power and its new affiliate. Changes in federal and regional legislation have, in practice, introduced a property qualification for parties participating in elections. Where there is seen to be a threat of a meaningful result, court procedures are used to remove opponents from the ballot. This is exactly what happened to us, to our party. In Karelia, we expected a strong result—and not only we did. All polls showed that our numbers were comparable to those of the “dominant party.” The grounds for our removal were our activities in strict accordance with our charter, as registered by the Ministry of Justice. In other words, the authorities resort to outright legal arbitrariness when they see a threat to their own positions. The elections in Primorye and Sverdlovsk Region clearly demonstrate another strategy: to work to reduce turnout while portraying YABLOKO as a weak party that influences no one and nothing. Regional authorities persuaded our voters that even if we won, nothing could be done in the legislative assembly with United Russia dominating it. And thoughtful, opposition-minded people simply did not come to vote. The parties belonging to the authorities are already fully engaged at the federal level in preparing for the 2007 and 2008 elections. They need to secure not merely a constitutional majority in the Duma, but a total one. From the point of view of the group currently in power, there is no need whatsoever for a real opposition at the federal level—neither from the standpoint of domestic politics nor for image purposes in international politics. For the current foreign policy course of the “energy superpower,” based on a pragmatic approach to solving problems, coercive pressure, and personal relationships, there is no need whatsoever for the presence of an opposition in parliament. Mocking imitations are enough. For domestic policy, based on high world energy prices, a propaganda machine, the loyalty of regional and business elites, and “targeted repressions”—judicial prosecutions or the threat of them—opposition, especially democratic opposition offering an alternative economic, foreign, domestic, and social policy, is a dangerous element, a threat to the regime of personal power and the continuous enrichment of the “elites.” At the same time, more and more people, including those in power, understand that the country is heading into a dead end. The inability to resolve the problem of 2008 by constitutional means, and the threats of losing power and property faced by representatives of the ruling groups, are leading to conflicts among them. The struggle for positions of power within United Russia, and already between United Russia and its new affiliate being created on the basis of three pro-Kremlin parties, shows that the situation is far from the stability our state propaganda media constantly talk about. The ruling group is frantically searching for an ideological foundation to justify unlimited power, including power unlimited in time. Instead of economic development and effective social policy, citizens are being offered political mock-ups and economic and social myths. The collapse of such a regime in the medium term—and possibly even in the short term—is inevitable. The main problem for the country is this: who can offer alternative paths of development, who can play the role of the leading political force in a crisis situation? At present, we are the only force with such potential. We must now resolve extraordinarily difficult and important tasks for ourselves and for the party: Preserve the party under conditions of living by someone else’s rules—criminal and lawless rules—in which we are assigned in advance the place of outsiders. Not renounce the principles and convictions we have defended for 15 years, and not betray our supporters, voters, party members, and, finally, ourselves. Preserve our regional and local organizations, our party members, and what we managed with such great difficulty not to lose after 2003. Not lose the trust of the civic organizations and new members who have joined our party: environmentalists, human rights defenders, soldiers’ mothers (a Russian civic movement of mothers advocating for conscripts’ rights), young people, entrepreneurs, women’s organizations, and many others—those who may see in us their last hope. To continue persistent work to unite all honest democrats and all genuine democratic organizations, while rejecting insistent alliances and unions with forces alien and unacceptable to us—provocative, destructive, and criminal-oligarchic forces aimed at destroying the country. Answer the question of how to take part in elections that have been turned into a farce—when the result is practically known in advance. If the State Duma elections were held today, we should not take part in them. But we do not know what will happen in a year; perhaps there is a chance that something will change. Finally, what must be done so that we—a democratic, social-liberal, and environmental party—can preserve ourselves as a functioning organization under an authoritarian regime that is becoming ever more nationalist. At present, we do not have unequivocal answers to these questions. I await your serious thoughts and proposals. However, one thing is certainly clear: every effort must be made to preserve our organization. As long as we operate in the legal political field as a radical, but still systemic, opposition, within the bounds of common sense and without allowing ourselves to be humiliated, we will try to comply with the rules imposed on us and participate in elections in those regions where our party has significant voter support. We must act actively and in unity under the threat of totalitarianism. We are in opposition to the ruling regime; we are defending the Constitution! It is our duty to defend the interests of citizens and fight for the future of our country! Friends! Remain honest people—that is the main thing! Respectfully, Party Chairman Grigory Yavlinsky October 16, 2006 Moscow