The State Duma called for banning the Yabloko party for “extremism”
Nikolai Novichkov, a member of the State Duma of the Russian Federation from the A Just Russia party, called for the liquidation of the Yabloko party for the presence of extremism in their election program and public speeches.
He made this appeal to the Minister of Justice Konstantin Chuychenko, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“The party’s calls to transfer Donbass under the full control of Ukraine, reflected both in program documents and in numerous speeches by representatives of this party in the media, can contribute to the continuation of violence in new Russian regions, can contribute to the death of people, and can also increase their grief and suffering . In fact, the program provisions of the Yabloko party should probably be considered as a manifestation of political terrorism, extremism, and justification of crimes against humanity,” writes Novichkov.
He also saw signs of extremist activity in Yabloko's denial that Donbass belonged to Russia, as well as in the peace plan of party founder Grigory Yavlinsky included in the program. This plan, according to the deputy, provides for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Donbass and the cessation of support for the LDPR.
Member of Yabloko's federal political committee Sergei Mitrokhin, who is planning to run for mayor of Moscow, hastened to justify himself.
“There is nothing like that in the Yabloko program at all. There are no peace plans. I don't know what we're talking about. In my opinion, the man is crazy. Obsessed with the fashionable trend of writing denunciations. Even the communists wrote denunciations against us, but against the whole party?! You have to try! Inadequate people, you need to go to a psychiatrist. This should be commented on by a specialist in clinical brain diseases. It makes no sense to give political commentary here,” Mitrokhin said in an interview with NSN.
Meanwhile, Yabloko is giving patriots more and more reasons for dissatisfaction. Thus, the party faction in the Moscow City Duma introduced a draft amnesty for those convicted of fake news about the Russian army, discrediting it and calls for sanctions against Russia.
“Of course, from a legal point of view, it is impossible to seriously say that those accused under articles of military censorship committed some crimes, but amnesty is now one of the few real tools for the release of these people,” said the head of the Moscow faction, Maxim Kruglov.
The initiative was warmly supported by liberal television journalist Ksenia Sobchak.
“We shouldn’t have any illusions about whether this project will be approved, but someone in our obscurantist times is trying to speak from a humanistic position. And this is already good,” she wrote in her TG channel.
At this time, the St. Petersburg police are checking for extremism Yabloko member Pyotr Sokov, who in November last year announced his transgender transition and change of name to Victoria. The Cyberfront organization saw LGBT propaganda and discrediting the army in the transgender’s posts.
Thus, there are prerequisites for satisfying Deputy Novichkov’s appeal to liquidate Yabloko. According to rumors, panic reigns in the party, but they are angrily denied by the prominent representative of Yabloko, Lev Shlosberg.
“There is no need to confuse the dreams of near-Kremlin whisperers with political reality. Public and non-public denunciations of the Yabloko party are nothing new for the party. This is the usual background noise of our work, which in no way affects the position of the party, its goals, objectives and plans. There will be no changes in the public position and policy of the Yabloko party. The party is right in all its political assessments. History will prove this,” Schlosberg wrote.
Political strategist Ramil Kharisov doubts that Yabloko will be banned, since the party has the status of registered liberals and enjoys the protection of the authorities.
“Yabloko’s rhetoric is against the SVO, but no one has applied any sanctions to them in a year. The party exists and even carries out some political work. We can say for sure that the decision to liquidate the party will not be made by State Duma deputies or other public political figures,” Kharisov wrote.
Non-liberal political scientist Ilya Grashchenkov agrees with him. He believes that Yabloko, together with New People, the LDPR and the Party of Growth, will join the “right wing of the party in power.”
“These are very different structures, which are united only by the fact that they do not accept leftist discourse, which over time will become increasingly difficult to keep within the framework of the system,” Grashchenkov wrote.
Liberal writer Anatoly Nesmiyan believes that the authorities need Yabloko as a convenient competitor in elections.
“Apple” is in a state intermediate between a comatose patient and a full-fledged zombie. No new ideas, no new people – charm, not a political competitor,” Nesmiyan wrote.
In the municipal elections held in September 2022, Yabloko won only 3 mandates. But the indicators of A Just Russia and the LDPR, which supported the SVO, increased 2 times. At the same time, Yabloko regularly comes under criticism from non-systemic liberals who consider the party’s pacifist position to be insincere.
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