| March 31, 2004 |
| 
Russian
Ombudsman Urges Extrajudicial Protection for Russian Residents
RIA "Novosti", March 25, 2004
Lukin also advocated the establishment
of a "single human rights zone in Russia." He recalled
that todate human rights ombudsmen worked in as few as 27 of the
89 Russian regions. Vladimir Lukin believes that it is necessary
to complete the process.
|
| March 25, 2004 |
|
Society’s Advocate
Before the State Vladimir Lukin: I'm not quarrelling with the authorities,
I intend to make them abolish unlawful decisions
Novaya Gazeta, No 19, March, 2004
Interview with Vladimir Lukin by Irina Gordiyenko
Everything depends on your staff. Russia has
learned this too well. When the democrats (YABLOKO and SPS) failed
to get into the Duma, Vladimir Putin promised that their ideas and
staff would be in demand. And really, thanks to Putin’s backing
msany YABLOKO members began entering different power structures.
And Putin proposed one of the founders of the YABLOKO party Vladimir
Lukin for the post of ombudsman. |
Poetry Wars
By Rebecca Reich
Friday, Mar. 19, 2004.
Together at last fall's poetry biennale were, from left to right,
Arion editor alexei Alyokhin, Moscow City Duma official Yevgeny Bunimovich
and Vavilon founder Dmitry Kuzmin. The main obstacle to putting together
this year's celebration of International Poetry Day was a matter
of logistics. Not the usual kind of logistics, since Moscow's lively
literary scene ensured organizer Yevgeny Bunimovich both fail-safe
venues and a devoted set of listeners. No -- here, the challenge
lay in getting all of the festival participants to tolerate being
in the same room for more than five minutes. |
Few Municipalities
Draw Enough Votes
St Peterburg Times, March 23, 2004
By Vladimir Kovalev
St. Petersburg voters elected only 30 of 63 municipal councils
in March 14 elections, and just 18 councils have a full complement
of members. In 92 St. Petersburg districts extra elections are to
be held in the next 8 months, the Union of Democratic Forces SPS
and Yabloko reported Friday. |
| March 24, 2004 |
Every Region Should
Have Its Ombudsman
Vladimir Lukin promised to fight against the "terrible arbitrary
rule of the law and enforcement agencies"
By Kira Latukhina
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, March, 18
Yesterday 25 Russian ombudsmen headed by the new Ombudsman of
Russia Vladimir Lukin left for the meeting with the PACE Human Rights
Commissioner Alvaro Gil-Robles in Strasbourg. Before the trip Lukin
held a working meeting for his colleagues from the regions where
press and representatives from the Presidential Administration were
invited. This was the first public appearance of the former Deputy
Speaker of the State Duma in his new post. |
A meeting between
Grigory Yavlinsky and members of the Russian branch of the PEN-club
took place last week.
March 18, 2004
Most of the discussion evolved around
developments with Russian democracy since 1985. According to Grigory
Yavlinsky, with the beginning of perestroika people discovered that
another life was quite possible: without fear. Lies and the absurd.
The state can be arranged to ensure that citizens’ rights can be
exercised, instead of a fight against them. The state should not
only protect property rights, but also support an efficient social
system. And people strived for such changes. |
| March 23, 2004 |
Chemical Funds
Associated Press, March 17, 2004
MOSCOW (AP) -- Environmental and human
rights activists criticized the implementation of Russia's chemical
disarmament program Tuesday, accusing authorities of mismanaging
funds and endangering lives by skimping on safety and security measures.
|
| March 22, 2004 |
The Putin Model
Is Doomed to Fail
By Andrei Piontkovsky
Wall Street Journal, March 15, 2004
Yesterday's Russian presidential election was another triumph for
Vladimir Putin's brand of "managed democracy." The campaign
and election followed the pattern of the parliamentary vote three
months ago, which the OSCE characterized as "free, but unfair."
|
| March 18, 2004 |
Elections Without Choice: The 2004 Campaign
Galina Michaleva,
Head of the Yabloko Party's Analytical Center
Russian Election Watch, March 2004
Some key points: * No candidate other than Putin is actually trying
to become president; each is a mere tool of some other political
force, e. g., the Kremlin * Kremlin invests surprising effort to
control an election it has in the bag * The logic of authoritarianism
inevitably leads to repressive excess * Kremlin destroying even the
illusion of democracy it hopes to project * Putin reduces political
role. |
A"managed democracy"
does not need free media they are only a hindrance
By Viktor Sheinis
Kreml.org, March 14, 2004
The problem is that "managed democracy" does not need free media,
they are only a hindrance. That is why a policy of stifling the free
mass media has been adopted. In the present situation among television
channels, and to a lesser degree radio and newspapers, only those
controlled by the authorities are really functioning. We witnessed
the demolition of two independent television companies, one by one.
|
Liberal Party
Reports Violations in Local Parliamentary Elections
Mosnews.com, March 12, 2004
Deputy Chairman of the liberal YABLOKO party Sergei
Mitrokhin announced that early voting in local parliamentary
elections in Krasnoyarsk Region was subjected to violations of the
electoral law, Interfax news agency reported Friday. |
The Results
of the Parliamentary Elections - 2003 Are Again Contested
YABLOKO piles the courts with void protocols
YABLOKO contests the results of the parliamentary elections in court
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, March 11, 2004
YABLOKO's applications for lawsuits with a demand for the annulment
of the results of the Duma elections were received by 78 district
and republican courts yesterday. Press Secretary of the YABLOKO party
Sergei Loktionov explained to Nezavisimaya Gazeta that YABLOKO had
claims against 170 out of the total 225 district electoral commissions.
|
Yavlinsky and
Khakamada stated that they might form a coalition
Interfax, March 10, 2004
The leader of YABLOKO Grigory Yavlinsky and presidential
candidate Irina Khakamada believe that it is necessary to form a
broad democratic coalition after the presidential elections. They
made this statement at the international conference “Are Free Elections
Possible in Russia?” on Wednesday in Moscow. Yavlinsky also noted
that future cooperation between YABLOKO and the party to be created
by Irina Khakamada was quite possible. |
| March 17, 2004 |
YABLOKO Goes
to Court seeking the annulment of the results of the State Duma elections
By Anastasya Matveyeva
Gazeta, March 11, 2004
The YABLOKO party challenged the official results of the December
7, 2003 parliamentary elections as soon as they were announced. YABLOKO
also said that it would file lawsuits. Suits were filed with regional
courts and the Supreme Court yesterday. YABLOKO cited a comparison
of the data in 14,065 protocols from observers against the figures
provided by the Central Electoral Commission. |
YABLOKO rolls
to courts
The party seeks to invalidate parliamentary elections in 170 constituencies
By Viktor Khamrayev
Kommersant, March 11, 2004
The liberal YABLOKO party filed a series of lawsuits demanding
the invalidation of the results in December's State Duma elections
in 170 out of Russia's 225 constituencies. YABLOKO failed to gain
the five percent of the vote required for parties to get party list
representation in the Duma and had only three deputies elected from
their constituencies. |
YABLOKO challenges Duma election results in court
By Ilya Zhegulyov
Gazeta.ru, March 11, 2004
The liberal YABLOKO party has filed 78 lawsuits contesting the
results of last December's State Duma elections. The party wants
the results in 170 of Russia's 225 constituencies annulled after
independent observers detected over 430,000 violations in the work
of the regional election commissions. |
Griogry Yavlinsky
at Interfax on the new Russian Cabinet
Interfax, March 10, 2004
The leader of YABLOKO Grigory Yavlinsky thinks that the Russian
government has not actually changed and is simply under greater control
of the President. |
Liberal leaders
positive on Yabloko's court move
Gazeta.ru, March 10, 2004
Commenting on Yabloko's legal attempt to annul the results of last
December's parliamentary elections, the party's leader Grigory Yavlinsky
said he could not say anything about its prospects. "According to
the data we have obtained, there were very serious and significant
violations in the vote-counting and we think that this case will
be taken seriously," he said. |
|
Yabloko official appointed head of Anti-Monopoly Service.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov said on
Wednesday that he had signed a resolution appointing Igor Artemyev
as head of the Anti-Monopoly Service. The resolution was signed
on Wednesday, the PM said. Igor Artemyev was a deputy in the State
Duma of the third convocation, where he represented the liberal
Yabloko party. The Anti-Monopoly Service is a new structure within
the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. Previously its functions
had been performed by a separate ministry. |
|
Igor Artemyev appointed Head of the Anti-Monopoly Service. This
was announced by Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov on March 10, 2004.
At present Igor Artemyev is Deputy Chairman of
the YABLOKO party
Igor Artemyev |
|
Yavlinsky
Considering a Comeback
By Catherine Belton Staff Writer
The Moscow Times. Thursday, Mar. 11, 2004. Page 3
He passed on the race for the presidency, but Yabloko leader Grigory
Yavlinsky says he's not yet thrown in the towel. Despite the resounding
defeat of Yabloko in the December Duma elections, Yavlinsky said
Wednesday he was considering a comeback. He told a conference he
was mulling joining forces with liberal opposition presidential
candidate Irina Khakamada to create a broad democratic coalition
after Sunday's vote. |
| March 16, 2004 |
|
Yavlinsky, Khakamada
Eye Future
St Petersburg Times, March 12, 2004
Yabloko leader Grigory
Yavlinsky is mulling joining forces with liberal opposition
presidential candidate Irina Khakamada to create a broad democratic
coalition after Sunday's vote. He says he's not yet thrown in the
towel. |
|
Artemyev Gets
Post
St.Petersburg Times, March 12, 2004
Senior Yabloko official and St. Petersburg politician
Igor Artemyev was appointed
head of the new Federal Anti-Monopoly Service on Wednesday.
|
Sakhalin Energy
Concludes Agreement to Provide Japan with Natural Gas
Rosbalt, March 12, 2004
The company Sakhalin Energy has as part of its Sakhalin II priject
concluded an agreement with Toho Gas, one of Japan's largest gas
distribution companies, to provide it with liquefied gas, according
to a statement issued to Rosbalt by the press office of Sakhalin
Gas. |
Democratic consolidation
and the Role of Political Parties – modern Russian experience
By Alexander Shishlov, Member of the Federal Bureau of YABLOKO party
Liberal International Conference* Guason, Taiwan. March 4-6, 2004
* A meeting of the Executive Committee of the Liberal International
and the Asian Conference of the Liberal International took place
at Guason, Taiwan, on March 4-6, 2004. The conference discussed the
urgent problems related to the construction and development of a
democratic state. Liberal parties from 35 countries sent their 120
representatives to the conference. Alexander Shishlov, Member of
the Federal Bureau of YABLOKO party, Russia, spoke at the conference
on YABLOKO’s view of the problems of developing democracy in Russia.
|
|
Putin's Popularity Veils Uncertainty for Russia
By Kim Murphy. Los Angeles Times, March 14, 2004
The president is likely to be reelected
today. His ability to address festering needs and commitment to
civil liberties are unknown. |
| March 15, 2004 |
|
Election Fraud
The Central Electoral Commission responds to Duma election complaints
By Orkhan Dzhemal, Novaya Gazeta, March 11, 2004
Three days from now, the presidential election will
be over - and the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) is bound to
receive numerous complaints of unfairness. Meanwhile, the CEC has
only just completed investigating complaints received after the
parliamentary elections.
The
YABLOKO party seeking annulment of the Duma election in 170 constituencies.
By Natalya Panshina, ITAR-TASS, March 10, 2004
Russian liberal party Yabloko has filed lawsuits to revoke the results
of the voting in last December's parliamentary election in 170 constituencies
out of the country's total 225, Sergei Loktionov, Yabloko's press
secretary said Wednesday.
Yabloko
files lawsuits concerning 2003 Duma elections.
ITAR-TASS, March 10, 2004
Alexander Veshnyakov, head of the Russian Central Electoral Commission,
told the Ekho Moskvy radio on Wednesday that theYabloko party didn't
stand a chance to win its lawsuits concerning the results of the
parliamentary elections in Russia if its accusations are based on
the same materials that the Russian Central Electoral Commission
studied earlier.
YABLOKO
disputes the results of the parliamentary election in courts
Press release, March 10, 2004
The Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO has finished its analysis of
the bulk of its copies of voting protocols from electoral districts
at the parliamentary elections of December 7, 2003 and is filing
lawsuits asking the courts to invalidate the election results at
170 out of the total 225 district electoral commissions.
|
| March 12, 2004 |
|
Putin's
Main Rival Is Apathy
By GUY CHAZAN, Wall Street Journal, March 11, 2004
Grigory Yavlinsky, leader of the liberal Yabloko party, which suffered
a crushing defeat in December's Duma elections, says voting would
mean supporting the regime Mr. Putin has created -- "an authoritarian
political system where the press, secret services, elections, Parliament
and business are all controlled from one room."
Paper:
Tallies Get Changed
The Moscow Times, March 12, 2004
Three months ago, the Communists submitted a complaint accusing
the Central Elections Commission of certifying falsified results,
saying their vote tally from the notarized protocols gathered by
party observers at polling stations did not square with the declared
results. Similar complaints were raised by Yabloko and the Union
of Right Forces, but all the complaints were dismissed.
Endorsing
a Candidate Not so Easy
Editorial, The Moscow Times, March 12, 2004
In this election, however, the biggest decision that voters face
is not whom to vote for, but whether to vote at all.
Putin
Calls on Voters to Show Up
By Francesca Mereu, The Moscow Times, March 12, 2004
President Vladimir Putin went on national television Thursday to
urge Russians to use their votes Sunday -- in a clear attempt to
increase the turnout of an election he is expected to win easily.
|
| March 11, 2004 |
|
Fradkov
Does Not Plan to Cut Fat
By Valeria Korchagina, The Moscow Times, March 11, 2004
Rather than letting go some of the 1 million civil servants working
at all levels of the government, the shakeup aims to make the government
more transparent and efficient without increasing the number of
staff, Fradkov said.
Putin's
Pursuit of the Power Vertical
By Caroline McGregor, The Moscow Times, March 11, 2004
So if all levers of state control are in Putin's hands, the single
question becomes: Where will he lead? No one knows. In four years
in office, Putin has shown himself to be predictable in his ability
to be unpredictable.
Russian
Human Rights Groups Decry Vote.
By Maria Danilova, Associated Press, March 10, 2004
The election "can be compared to a soccer game, which has no
goal, no ball and no field - just the score on the scoreboard, and
you are being invited to watch the score," said Grigory Yavlinsky,
leader of the liberal Yabloko party. |
| March 10, 2004 |
|
Sergei
Ivanenko: The economic and political course of the government will
be determined by the President. And YABLOKO shall create a democratic
coalition.
IA Marketing i Consulting, March 2, 2004
It is obvious that President Putin has formed a technical Cabinet,
which will be even more technical than Mikhail Kasyanov s Cabinet.
Russia:
Putin's Dismissal Of Government Raises More Questions Than It Answers
By Sergei Danilochkin, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, February
25, 2004
Ivanenko says no matter how "uncommon" the candidate,
the Kremlin's policy will remain much what it is now -- Putin's
policy.
Getting
Out the Vote With Ads, Food, SMS
By Anatoly Medetsky and Oksana Yablokova, The Moscow Times, March
5, 2004
Concert tickets, groceries, SMS messages and even threats to turn
down medical assistance and dismiss government employees are among
the tactics being used by officials in an attempt to boost voter
turnout on election day.
Russia:
Before and After the Elections
Grigory Yavlinsky's lecture for the Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace, February 26, 2004
I am really extremely grateful for this opportunity to speak to
such a special audience on issues relating to the further development
of my country. |
| March 7, 2004 |
|
Analyst:
British Petroleum Might Finance Development of the Sakhalin-5 Oil
and Gas Field
Rosbalt, March 4, 2004
As reported earlier by the Agency for Conflict Situations, the state
oil company Rosneft and British Petroleum are preparing a new agreement
on developing the Sakhalin-5 field.
Sergei
Mitrokhin: Yavlinsky Convinced Putin Not to Import Spent Nuclear
Fuel
Refutation of an article from rbc.ru, March 4, 2004
In an article Putin Will Process the Nuclear Damp (from February
27) Alexei Vinogradov made a serious mistake. The author of the
article stated that the President supports imports of spent nuclear
fuel into Russia. This is not true. In the quotation used by Vinogradov
as his source, Putin speaks refers to the need to focus on waste
from our [domestically produced] fuel. He implies here that spent
nuclear fuel from domestically produced fuel rod arrays were exported
to Europe by the USSR and then by Russia. |
| March 5, 2004 |
|
Russia's
new premier dubbed 'Putin puppet'
By David Cronin, www.europeanvoice.com,
March 4, 2004
Grigory Yavlinsky, leader of Liberal party Yabloko, characterized
the appointment of Fradkov, until now Moscow's EU envoy, as an attempt
by President Putin to copperfasten his grip on power. |
| March 4, 2004 |
|
The
YABLOKO Party: Mikhail Fradkov will be a purely "technical" prime
minister
RIA "OREANDA", March 2, 2004
"The President has made it clear that he will directly govern
and determine the policy of the country even more than was the case
in the past", Ivanenko declared.
Maxim
Reznik: the leader of United Russia should have become Prime Minister
to make the party responsible for state policy
Press release, March 1, 2004
According to Reznik, "all this represents merely some elements
of a PR campaign aimed at increasing the interest of the electorate
in the forthcoming elections."
Russian
opposition leader attacks Putin's choice of new PM
AFP, March 3, 2004
"The government will just be his office," he said here.
"It will have no political significance." |
| March 2, 2004 |
|
Sergei
Ivanenko: Proposing a non-political figure for the post of Prime
Minister demonstrates that the course of the country has not changed
Press release, March 01, 2004
The President has made it clear that he will directly guide the
government even more than in the past, and will himself determine
the country’s course.
YABLOKO:
the new Government will be fully controlled by the President.
Rosbalt, March 1, 2004
"This a purely technical post, noted Mitrokhin. - Fradkov is
a not a figure of great significance, he does not represent any
distinct political course."
Putin's
Nominee for the Post of Prime Minister Arouses Controversy Among
Russian Politicians
RIA "Novosti", March 1, 2004
"By appointing this technical prime minister, Putin is merely
assuming greater responsibility for the government's work, that's
all," Ivanenko noted in a RIA interview.
Russia's
Liberal Parties Make Restrained Comments on New PM
By Natalia Panshina, ITAR-TASS, March 1, 2004
Deputy head of the YABLOKO party Sergei Ivanenko said that President
Vladimir Putin's decision was "quite logical in terms of building
a new system of power". |
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