The Kremlin has harshly criticized the anti-war party Yabloko
Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov stated that he does not consider the Russian party “Yabloko” to be a full-fledged political force. At the same time, he denied that the authorities are putting pressure on anti-war politicians ahead of the State Duma elections. Against this backdrop, the party itself continues to face challenges during the election campaign.
Russian Presidential Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that he does not consider the “Yabloko” party a full-fledged political force. “I wouldn’t even call ‘Yabloko’ a party. It’s nothing more than a group,” Peskov said.
The Kremlin spokesman also denied that Russian authorities are waging a campaign against politicians who advocate ending the war against Ukraine ahead of the State Duma elections scheduled for September. “Those who break the law face pressure, while those who do not break it are free to express their opinions,” he said.
At the same time, the Yabloko party, which is running in the elections under the slogan “For Peace and Freedom,” has recently faced a number of difficulties. On July 24, the election commission denied the party registration for the elections to the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg. The reason cited was a signature on the financial report that did not satisfy the members of the election commission.
In addition, more than ten candidates from “Yabloko” were barred from running in federal and regional elections. They were accused of displaying “extremist symbols” by publishing photographs of the late Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny. In Karelia, a court case is also underway to revoke the registration of the party’s list of candidates.
If the number of candidates removed from the federal list exceeds one-quarter, “Yabloko” may be barred from participating in the State Duma elections altogether. Russian law provides for this possibility. Political analyst Alexander Kinev believes that the Kremlin may allow the party to participate in the elections only on the condition that it does not conduct an active campaign.
According to him, in that case, “Yabloko” could serve as a so-called spoiler for the “New People” party by drawing away a portion of the voters’ votes. “Not wanting to strengthen ‘New People’ too much, the authorities may allow Yabloko to remain on the ballot. The 1–1.5% of the vote the party ultimately receives nationwide could be exactly the percentage that ‘New People’ will fall short of,” Kinev explained.
At the same time, he noted that if the party is ultimately barred from the election, this could jeopardize its continued existence. The fact is that under Russian law, a political party must participate in the minimum required number of election campaigns over a seven-year period. Moreover, only the participation of officially registered candidates is taken into account.
For his part, political analyst Andrei Kolesnikov is convinced that the Russian authorities have no intention of allowing anti-war politicians to conduct a full-fledged election campaign. “The authorities have no intention of providing any platform in the elections for people with anti-war views,” he said. As of now, Russia’s Central Election Commission has not yet registered the federal list of candidates from the Yabloko party for the State Duma elections. However, on July 10, the commission officially certified this list, which included 274 candidates. He made these remarks in an interview with The Washington Post.
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