Disrupted primaries
On Monday, the Chairman of PARNASSUS Konstantin Merzlikin has declared that by reason of the failure of the primaries of the democratic coalition the leadership of the party independently generates a list of candidates for the parliamentary elections.
Primaries (preliminary inner-party vote), the democratic coalition were to determine the joint list of opposition candidates for the elections of the state Duma of 2016. Those wishing to vote for a particular candidate were required to register on a special website. Sunday at noon, primaries were suspended after a database of registered voters from public access.
Now the decision on nomination of candidates from the democratic coalition will take the leadership of the PARNAS Mikhail Kasyanov. According to Merzlikina, 17 June the political Council of PARNAS will approve the draft list of candidates from the coalition, and on June 18, the Congress party will make a final decision. The coalition was created on the base of PARNASSUS, because she has a right to nominate candidates for the elections without collecting signatures.
Earlier, the democratic coalition and left the majority of supporters of Alexei Navalny, the Deputy Chairman of PARNAS Ilya Yashin and the Chairman of the “democratic choice” Vladimir Milov. They were not satisfied with the achieved in the formation of a democratic coalition agreement that Kasyanov will get first place in the list without primaries. They also accused the Chairman of the party in disrupting the organization and funding of the primaries.
As a result, the democratic coalition has left a few activists and politicians. In particular, continue to be run under the brand PARNAS intends historian Andrei Zubov, the founders of the Party December 5, Konstantin Jankauskas and Sergey Davidis, head of the Moscow branch liquidated the Party of progress Nikolai Laskin, Chairman of the libertarian party Andrey Shal’nev, who is in jail nationalist Alexander Belov (Potkin) and blogger Vyacheslav Maltsev.
The coalition on the basis of “Apple”
Expelled from the party “Fair Russia” state Duma Deputy Dmitry Gudkov and former co-Chairman of party PARNASSUS Vladimir Ryzhkov in February urged the opposition to create a unified list on the basis of the party “Yabloko”. Ryzhkov intends to be elected in single-mandate district in the Altai region, Gudkov — in Tushino district of Moscow.
Timiryazevskaya in Moscow single-mandate district from the “Apple” plans to be elected one of the leaders of the Party on 5 December the activist Julia Galiamina, single-seat districts from the party also intends to nominate a co-founder of the community Discerned, physicist Andrei zayakin. In which constituency he will go is not yet clear.
Also in the elections is going to take part the member of the political Council and the Chairman of the Pskov regional branch of the party Leo Schlossberg and ex-mayor of Petrozavodsk Galina Shirshina.
To talk about who will be included in the Federal part of the party list, and who in regional groups, so far, said press Secretary of Grigory Yavlinsky Igor Yakovlev. The exact configuration will become clear at the party Congress, which will be held on June 25-26, he added.
“Khodorkovsky List”
The attempt to create a single list of opposition candidates in the elections was taken by the former head of Yukos Mikhail Khodorkovsky living abroad. In the spring of 2015 he launched the project “Open elections”, which should support the young opposition politicians from Moscow and regions. Khodorkovsky calls the educational project, explaining that the goal is to teach politicians to campaign and raise funds. The necessary half of the campaign funds “candidates Khodorkovsky” will receive from the policy, half of have to find yourself.
“Open elections” has selected 25 candidates in single-mandate candidates, of which 20 will run for the state Duma, five by the St. Petersburg legislative Assembly. Most of the selected candidates will go to the polls as from PARNASSUS. “The Apple” has refused to cooperate with the candidates “Open elections”. Three others will go as independent candidates, among them amnestied the defendant in the “Bolotnaya case”, a participant of the projects Khodorkovsky Maria Baronova. She plans to collect signatures to be elected for the Central district of Moscow.
With the support of “fair elections” intend to stand Jankauskas also from the Party on 5 December and Shal’nev from the libertarian party. In Dagestan, the project will support Khodorkovsky, journalist and author of the book “Brides of Allah” Yulia Yuzik.
Who abandoned election
There are opposition members who decided not to run. In particular, are unable to agree with PARNASSUS nor from the “Apple” about his nomination in single-mandate district in Moscow the lawyer of the Fund of struggle against corruption Love Sable. As a result, she announced the withdrawal of his candidacy from the election. The Bulk of the companions also withdrew from the elections, Leonid Volkov, George Alburi, Director of FBK Roman Rubanov and head of legal Department at FBK Ivan Zhdanov.
Yashin, who said in April about the withdrawal from the democratic coalition, also is not going to move. But he will try to help the party PARNAS as the only independent party in the upcoming elections, said the opposition leader .
Representatives of Yabloko conducted preliminary talks with Irina Prokhorova, but in the end she refused to participate in the elections, said two people close to the party. She Prokhorov declined to comment on the possible participation in upcoming elections.
With the release of the democratic coalition of supporters of Navalny, the opposition began an internal agenda and explanation of the relationship between themselves, and care only an already existing core of supporters of the coalition, says the President of Fund “the Petersburg policy” Michael Vinogradov. Of opposition forces taking part in elections, have the best chance of “Apple”, but much more will depend on the election campaign, the expert predicts. The electoral experience of Parnassus and the “Khodorkovsky list” is not so obvious, he said.
