Russia: Anti-war party excluded from parliamentary elections

Yabloko excluded from election: financing from abroad?

The court justified its judgment against the Anti-war party with alleged numerous violations of Russian electoral law. The Kremlin-loyal Rodina party accused Yabloko in its campaign materials Copyright violated and having spent too much money on advertising. There was also an accusation of financing from abroad.

The as vicarious agent of the Kremlin Criticized Judge Vyacheslav Kirillov followed the request of the public prosecutor’s office, which considered Rodina’s complaint against the election management to be justified. Hundreds of party supporters gathered in front of the court, chanting “Yabloko”, “Yabloko”. The party wants that appeal the verdict. Kirillov expressly allowed an appeal. Yabloko demands one Ending the Russian war against Ukraine. The national parliamentary and local elections are scheduled for September 18-20.

Yabloko: “Political competition is the essence of elections”

The party fought back in one hours of negotiation against exclusion from the parliamentary elections. Yabloko had not committed any legal violations, said the party leader Nikolai Rybakov in his closing statement. The party advocates peace and freedom and a life without fear. Millions of Russians are ready to vote for his party, Rybakov said. “Political competition is the essence of elections“, he emphasized. The plaintiffs’ goal is to deprive people of a free choice.

Rodina accuses Jabloko of violating copyrights in her election campaign material – for example in depictions of doves of peace – and of spending an impermissible amount of money on election advertising on the Internet. In addition, Jabloko is said to have 16,900 rubles (around 178 euros) Election funding from the USA and Germany have received. Jabloko lawyers disagreed with the points in the 40-page lawsuit. Rybakov spoke of one “historical process”, because no party admitted to the election has ever been subsequently excluded.

Inventions and absurd thoughts

In his closing remarks, a representative of the electoral commission highlighted the issue of election financing from the West and said that it made him think. He had previously defended the commission’s decision in July to name Yabloko one of eleven parties to be allowed to vote. The decision was unanimous.

The party wanted to run for the election under the slogan “For Peace and Freedom” and promised to do so in view of the political repression in the country “Living without fear”. Rybakov said in the end that the most important thing was that the killing stopped. He criticized Rodina for not presenting any evidence for the allegations, but for formulating fabrications and absurd ideas. The Rodina representatives, supported by the public prosecutor’s office, appeared self-confident and confident of victory from the start.

All other permitted parties support Putin in the war

“The plaintiff confuses the courtroom with a talk show on television, where loud slogans, labels such as “extremism” and subjective associations take the place of the law,” said Rybakov about the allegations. Yabloko is an “exclusively peaceful, civilized, legitimate political organization“. He also criticized the fact that Rodina’s lawsuit also undermined the authority of the head of the Central Election Management, Ella Pamfilova, undermine. She had said that voters should decide for themselves between the political poles in Russia – for or against the war.

A Rodina representative criticized in court that Yabloko’s election program consisted of only 43 words and that the demand for a ceasefire in the war against Ukraine contradicted the war goals. Specifically, he mentioned the conquest of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, which the Kremlin stated was the war goal. The other parties support the Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin in his war.

Yabloko is very popular

Other parties loyal to the Kremlin had also called for exclusion from the vote in September. Several Duma deputies who support Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine denounced Yabloko members as traitors and agents of the West. What is particularly criticized is that not a single participant in the war is on Yabloko’s electoral list.

Observers explained the attacks against Yabloko by saying that the party had been admitted to the election since large influx recorded – and the risk of a possible success had become too great for the Kremlin. Based on surveys, experts said that the party had a chance of overcoming the five percent hurdle in the election and returning to the polls for the first time in more than 20 years Duma to come.

Most prominent Yabloko members not allowed to vote

The most prominent Yabloko members were not allowed to vote anyway because they were “foreign agents” classified as being in court or in custody. But even with the largely unknown names on the list, approval ratings rose, according to political observers.

The political scientist Kirill Rogow said that the Kremlin initially allowed Yabloko to be admitted in order to steal votes from the Duma party Novye Lyudi (New People) and to virtually pulverize the votes of the war opponents as a whole if they were distributed among several parties. As the smallest of the five parties represented in the Duma, Nowyje Lyudi has recently made significant gains in the polls after sharp criticism of the internet blocks, for example. The ruling Kremlin party, United Russia, with its staunch war supporters, however, declined.

Judges as servants of the Kremlin?

Rodina itself is a marginal party with no political weight. Commentators believe that it serves as a compliant instrument for the power apparatus and parties loyal to the Kremlin. Judge Kirillov stands with the Russian opposition as Servants of the Kremlin in criticism. He recently banned the human rights organization Memorial, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, in an equally controversial process.