Yabloko members expelled from the party announced the creation of an alternative movement

Yabloko members, excluded from the party, announced the creation of an alternative movement, ex-party member and Moscow City Duma candidate Petr Karmanov told The Insider.

The goal of the movement will be “the revival of the Yabloko party on the basis of its original democratic, liberal and human rights principles.”

The reason for this step, as emphasized in a press release at the disposal of The Insider, was the split in Yabloko due to the actions of the party leadership – most of the party members do not agree with the views and decisions of the leaders.

“After the absolutely disastrous results of the September 19 elections, all parties understand that the current leadership has exhausted its capabilities and needs to be replaced. Unfortunately, instead of democratically trying to defend their position, they chose the path of retaining their own power by depriving the opportunity to vote for all who are dissatisfied, ”Peter Karmanov tells The Insider. – There were times when at Yabloko it was possible to speak openly, criticize the leadership, and this was considered normal.

Unfortunately, this is not the case now. We are creating a social movement that will be able to include all current and excluded from Yabloko party members. This will be the “Public Association Yabloko”, and we will strive to return the original meaning of the party. We assume that the movement will be headed by Daria Besedina, although this will be decided at a general meeting to be held early next year. “

The document also notes that the actions of the leadership do not correspond to the basic principles of the Yabloko party.

“The party is democratic, which means that different positions can be heard in it and repression for disagreement with the leadership is unacceptable. Exceptions from the party for signing open letters or being present in informal inner-party communities violate the basic democratic and universal principles of the existence of a political structure, ”the press release said.

In addition, the press release emphasizes that the party’s leadership “allows itself to make statements aimed at supporting politically motivated criminal prosecutions in Russia,” which is contrary to the principles of the opposition party.

The day before, the founder of the party and the leader of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg Grigory Yavlinsky claimed that Memorial banned because of “Smart Voting” by Alexei Navalny “.