Grigory Yavlinsky, the leader of Yabloko’s electoral list, and Irkutsk Region Governor Dmitry Mezentsev may be removed from the presidential race following a review of their signature sheets. The idea that the signature sheets submitted for Yavlinsky and for Prokhorov could somehow be different is laughable. YABLOKO received 2.25 million votes in the most recent State Duma elections. Isn’t that enough to have the right to run in the presidential election? This is exactly what usurpation and an illegal seizure of power look like.
There sits that crook, deciding for himself: who should I compete against in these “fair elections” to make sure I win? I should also note separately that this is a major blow to the election-monitoring program. YABLOKO traditionally trained many observers, and it was always easy to arrange with them to get observer credentials for polling stations. Now there is no Yavlinsky candidacy, which means there can be no observers accredited through candidate Yavlinsky either.