Going their own way: The Yabloko Party's opposition to unification

Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics

Volumn 21, Issue 4, 2005, Pages 462-486

  White, David ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

POLITICAL IDEOLOGY; POST-COMMUNISM; TERRITORIAL REUNIFICATION;

EURASIA; RUSSIAN FEDERATION;

EID: 30844465692     PISSN: 13523279     EISSN: 17439116     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/13523270500363395     Document Type: Review

References (102)

1. See, for instance: R. Sakwa, Russian Politics and Society, 2nd edn. (London: Routledge, 1996), p.110;
2. F.J. Fleron, Jr., R. Ahl and F. Lane, 'Where Now in the Study of Russian Politics?', in J. Löwenhardt (ed.), Party Politics in Post-Communist Russia (London: Frank Cass, 1998), pp.230-31;
3. E. Bacon, 'Russia: Party Formation and the Legacy of the One-Party State', in J.K. White (ed.), Political Parties and the Collapse of the Old Order (New York: State University of New York Press, 1996), p.218.
4. The liberal economist Yevgenii Yasin argued that had the two parties competed on a single democratic ticket they would have gained at least eight per cent of the vote; conflict in the democratic camp had deterred liberal supporters from voting: Ye. Yasin, 'Demokratiya s chistogo lista', Rossiiskaya gazeta, 12 Dec. 2003.
5. Irina Khakamada described the 2003 election results as 'the last wake up call' for the liberals and declared that Yabloko and SPS had to merge to survive: Moscow Times, 9 Dec. 2003, p.1.
6. Vladimir Lukin stated that Yabloko had to re-evaluate its relations with other democratically oriented parties immediately: Moscow News, 10 Dec. 2003, p.1.
7. At Yabloko's congress shortly after the elections, Yavlinskii expressed hope that the liberals would be able to create a unified opposition, stating that 'Yabloko aims to create a big, serious party that will truly unite the democratic opposition over the next four years': Yabloko press release, 21 Dec. 2003, 'Rossiiskaya demokraticheskaya partiya "Yabloko", XII s"ezd', Yabloko website, (accessed 17 Jan. 2004).
8. Initially, Ryzhkov and Kasparov worked together in Committee 2008: Free Choice, with the aim of uniting the democratic forces; in April 2005 Ryzhkov left the organization to help set up a new party based on the Republican Party of Russia (RPR), stating that merger talks had proved futile: 'Letom dolzhno proizoiti nastoyashchee ob"edinenie demokratov', interview with Vladimir Ryzhkov, Izvestiya, 27 April 2005, p.2. Initially established to ensure the openness of the 2008 presidential election, Committee 2008: Free Choice has also proposed fielding candidates in the 2007 parliamentary elections and choosing a leader to head a new 'Coalition of Democratic Forces'.
9. Yabloko's share of the party list vote in elections to the State Duma has declined from 7.86 per cent in 1993 to 4.32 per cent in 2003. Morjé Howard and Roessler argue that the ability to form effective coalitions is vital if opposition is successfully to challenge a powerful incumbent. A united opposition coalition may increase the possibility of electoral success in a number of ways. First, incumbents find it more difficult to adopt a divide and rule strategy, playing opposition parties and leaders off against each other. Second, it increases the costs for the incumbent: More resources are required to counter the united opposition challenge. Finally, a united opposition may give the electorate a sense that real change is possible and mobilize a popular vote against the ruling party: See M. Morjé Howard and P. Roessler, Opposition Coalitions and Political Liberalization in Competitive Authoritarian Regimes, Studies in Public Policy No.395 (Glasgow: University of Strathclyde, 2004), pp.13-14.
10. For example, F. Weir, 'Unity Eludes Russia's Reformers', Christian Science Monitor, 17 Dec. 1998;
11. P. Rutland, 'Grigorii Yavlinskii: The Man Who Would Be King', Problems of Post-Communism, Vol.46, No.5 (1999), p.49.
12. Blok: Yavlinskii-Boldyrev-Lukin: Predvybornaya platforma (Moscow, 1993), pp.4-5.
13. G. Yavlinskii, 'V raskole demokratov tragedii net', Izvestiya, 13 July 1995, p.2.
14. Budushchee. Doverie. Bezopasnost' (Moscow, 1999), p.6.
15. Demokraticheskii manifest - programma Rossiiskoi Demokraticheskoi Partii Yabloko, p.14, available at Yabloko's website, (accessed 24 Nov. 2003);
16. Programma politicheskoi partii 'Souyuz Pravykh Sil' (Rossiiskii liberal'nyi manifest), available at the SPS website, (accessed 16 July 2004).
17. Demokraticheskii manifest, p.8.
18. S. Mitrokhin, 'Demokraty, no raznye: Ob ideologicheskikh razlichiyakh "Yabloko" i SPS', Nezavisimaya gazeta, 23 June 2001, p.3.
19. Ibid.
20. Novoe vremya, 2001, No.28 (15 July), p.11.
21. For a detailed analysis of the programmatic differences of Yabloko and SPS, see O. Manikhin, Rossiiskaya demokraticheskaya partiya "Yabloko": Kratkii istoricheskii ocherk (Moscow: Integral-Inform, 2003), pp.123-39.
22. Sakwa, Russian Politics and Society, p.95.
23. J. Lester, Modern Tsars and Princes: The Struggle for Hegemony in Russia (London: Verso, 1995), p.56.
24. P. Mair, What is Different About Post-Communist Party Systems?, Studies in Public Policy, No.259 (University of Strathclyde, Centre for the Study of Public Policy, 1996), p.12.
25. Ibid.
26. Bacon, 'Russia: Party Formation and the Legacy of the One-Party State', p.219.
27. For a similar argument see S. White, M. Wyman and S. Oates, 'Parties and Voters in the 1995 Russian Duma Election', Europe-Asia Studies, Vol.49, No.5 (1997), p.768.
28. S. Whitefield and G. Evans, 'Class, Markets and Partisanship in Post-Soviet Russia: 1993-96', Electoral Studies, Vol.18 (1999), p.167;
29. the earlier study is G. Evans and S. Whitefield, 'Identifying the Bases of Party Competition in Eastern Europe', British Journal of Political Science, Vol.23, No.4 (1993), pp.521-48.
30. White, Wyman and Oates, 'Parties and Voters', p.785.
31. H. Kitschelt, 'The Formation of Party Systems in East Central Europe', Politics and Society, Vol.20, No.1 (1992), p.16;
32. H. Kitschelt, 'Formation of Party Cleavages in Post-Communist Democracies', Party Politics, Vol.1, No.4 (1995), pp.458-9.
33. Kitschelt, 'The Formation of Party Cleavages', p.459.
34. M. Wyman, B. Miller, S. White and P. Heywood, 'Parties and Voters in the Elections', in P. Lentini (ed.), Elections and Political Order in Russia (Budapest: Central European University Press, 1995), pp.128-31 (emphasis added).
35. D. Volkov, 'Verbovka storonnikov pered vyborami', Segodnya, 25 Dec. 1993, p.2.
36. Yu. Korgunyuk, Sovremennaya rossiiskaya mnogopartiinost' (Moscow: INDEM, 1999), p.230.
37. A. Ryabov, 'The Outlook for the Russian Multi-Party System in the New Political Context', Carnegie Moscow Center Briefing Paper No. 8, August 2001, at http://www.carnegie.ru/en/pubs/briefings/48352.htm (accessed 12 Oct. 2001);
38. see also Manikhin, Rossiiskaya demokraticheskaya partiya "Yabloko", pp.67-9.
39. Petr Shelishch, State Duma deputy, member of Yabloko Duma faction, interview with author, 14 May 2001.
40. G. Yavlinsky, 'An Uncertain Prognosis', Journal of Democracy, Vol.8, No.1 (1997), p.8.
41. Aleksei Mel'nikov, Yabloko Duma deputy, interview with author, 16 May 2001.
42. L. Belin, 'Union of Right Forces Plays Putin Card', RFE/RL Election Report, No.7, 17 Dec. 1999.
43. According to VTsIOM polls, SPS's rating increased from two per cent in August to six per cent in November; Yabloko's rating decreased from a high of 12 per cent in September to eight per cent in November: Vremya MN, 29 Nov. 1999, p.2.
44. V. Vyzhutovich, 'Terrorizm: Kuda padaet Yabloko?', Moskovskie novosti, 5 Nov. 2002, p.4.
45. G. Feifer, 'Hostage Crisis Draws Putin and Yavlinsky Closer Together', RFE/RL, Research Report, 25 Nov. 2002.
46. L. Belin, 'Drive to Investigate Crisis Deepens Divisions Between SPS and Yabloko', RFE/RL Russian Political Weekly, Vol.2, No.37 (6 Nov. 2002).
47. Unnamed Yabloko Duma deputy, quoted in V. Gel'man, 'Yabloko: Opyt politicheskoi alternativy', Kentavr, 1995, No.6, p.52.
48. S. Tsekhmistrenko, 'Slushaet li "Yabloko" Yegora Gaidara?', Kommersant, 10 Feb. 1995, p.1.
49. N. Arkhangel'skaya, 'Den' zhertvoprinoshenii', Kommersant, 14 Dec. 1995, p.3.
50. L. Belin and R.W. Orttung, 'Parties Proliferate on Eve of Elections', Transition, 22 Sept. 1995, p.44.
51. G Yavlinskii, 'V raskole demokratov tragedii net', Izvestiya, 13 July 1995, p.2.
52. M. McFaul and N. Petrov, Previewing Russia's 1995 Parliamentary Elections (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment, 1995), p.25.
53. L. Belin, 'An Array of Mini-Parties Wage Futile Parliamentary Campaigns', Transition, 23 Feb. 1996, p.18.
54. Bela Denisenko of Fedorov's Forward Russia movement, quoted in S. Mulin, 'Mogikane v demokraticheskikh debryakh Rossii', Segodnya, 1 June 1999, p.2.
55. A. Zudin, in M. McFaul, N. Petrov, A. Ryabov and E. Reisch (eds.), Primer on Russia's 1999 Duma Elections (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1999), p.105.
56. V. Fedorov, 'Pole bitvy pered vyborami - pravyi flang', Rossiiskaya gazeta, 30 Jan. 2003, p.4.
57. Yabloko press release, 15 May 2000, 'Reshenie o soyuze SPS i "Yabloko" bylo pravil'nym, liniya na ob'edinenie vsekh demokraticheskikh sil budet prodolzhena - Sergei Ivanenko', (accessed 22 Nov. 2000; Artem'ev came second in the elections with 17.68 per cent of the vote, Vladimir Yakovlev was elected with 72.2 per cent.
58. Yabloko press release, 21 June 2000, '"Yabloko" i Soyuz pravykh sil podpisali v Moskve soglashenie o merakh po ob"edineniyu dvukh politicheskikh organizatsii', (accessed 25 June 2000).
59. 'Skoro vybory. Demokraty zagovorili ob ob"edinenii', Vremya novostei, 28 May 2002, p.4.
60. A. Ryabov, 'Yabloko i pustota: Yavlinskii khochet druzhit' s Kremlem a ne s Chubaisom', Vek, 12 July 2002, p.3.
61. V. Tretyakov, 'Druz'ya pritvoren vash soyuz', Rossiiskaya gazeta, 24 Oct. 2002, p.3.
62. The All-Russia Democratic Assembly, a discussion forum for democratically oriented political and civic organizations, was formed in June 2001. Originally comprising 22 organizations, the assembly was essentially Yabloko's brainchild. Key participants, apart from Yabloko, included Boris Fedorov's 'Forward Russia' movement, Lev Ponomarev's 'Democratic Russia', the 'Common Action' human rights group headed by Sergei Kovalev, Mikhail Gorbachev's Russian Social Democratic Party, the Union of Journalists, and SPS. For more details see Yabloko press releases, 15 June 2001, 'Informatsionnaya spravka Vserossiiskoe demokraticheskoe soveshchanie', at (accessed 16 July 2001),
63. and 19 June 2001, 'Vserossiiskoe demokraticheskoe soveshchanie namechaet plan deistvii demokraticheskikh sil', at . (accessed 16 July 2001).
64. Yabloko press release, December 2002, 'Khartiya Novoi Demokraticheskoi Koalitsii', (accessed 20 Jan 2003).
65. Yu. Chernega, 'Grigorii Yavlinskii sovsem polevel', Kommersant, 24 Dec. 2002, p.3.
66. A. Matveeva, 'Raskol'niki. "Kak Maskhadov i Putin" lyubyat drug druga Yabloko i SPS', Gazeta, 24 Jan. 2003, p.3;
67. V. Ignatov, 'Yabloko i SPS ne pokatitsya', Trud, 30 Jan. 2003, p.4. Ivanenko, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, suggested that there would be a place for Nemtsov and Khakamada on Yabloko's party list if they were to disband SPS.
68. N. Yefimovich and A. Makurin, 'Boris Nemtsov: U Putina est' vybor - stat' libo geroem, libo zlodeem', Komsomol'skaya pravda, 6 March 2001, p.8.
69. V. Ignatov, 'Yabloko k SPS ne pokatitsya', Trud, 30 Jan. 2003, p.4.
70. By January Yabloko was polling about eight per cent while the SPS share of the vote had declined from about 11 per cent in October 2002 to five per cent: B. Stolyarov and V. Ivanov, 'Yavlinskii poidet svoim putem', Vedomosti, 27 Jan. 2003, p.2.
71. Yabloko claimed to have a membership of over 36,000 in January 2003: Yabloko press release, 22 Feb. 2003, 'Chislennost' partii "Yabloko" prevysila 36 tysyach', (accessed 26 Feb. 2003). The number of 'full' party members prior to 2001 is unclear but, although interviews with a range of party officials failed to identify a common membership figure, an estimate of approximately 7,000 'full' members would be plausible.
72. Henry Hale argues that Yabloko's response to unification proposals has been damaging to the party, encouraging the image of Yabloko as an 'organization of intellectual loudmouths' with little practical experience of government and lacking the will to make pragmatic compromises: H.E. Hale, 'Yabloko and the Challenge of Building a Liberal Party in Russia', Europe-Asia Studies, Vol.56, No.7 (2004), p.1001.
73. M. McFaul, 'Explaining Party Formation and Nonformation in Russia: Actors, Institutions, and Chance', Comparative Political Studies, Vol.34, No.10 (2001), p.1173.
74. Timofei Nizhegorodtsev, head of Yabloko's apparat, interview with author, 11 March 2002, Moscow; Nizhegorodtsev's statement was by no means an isolated view; many Yabloko members interviewed during 2001-02 expressed similar views.
75. In one of the St Petersburg seats, at least, the failure of one of the liberal candidates to give the other a free run resulted in a split liberal vote, allowing the United Russia candidate to win. In the Serevo-zapadnyi district (210), S.V. Gulayaev (SPS) gained 22,164 votes, Yabloko's G.A. Golov 28,608 votes, and United Russia's A.V. Shelev 39,442 votes: See the Central Electoral Commission website, (accessed 15 Jan. 2004).
76. In 2003, out of the 225 single-mandate seats, Yabloko and SPS competed against each other in only 26.
77. A. Ware, Political Parties and Party Systems (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), p.193.
78. S. Mainwaring, 'Presidentialism, Multipartism and Democracy: The Difficult Combination', Comparative Political Studies, Vol.26, No.2 (1993), p.200.
79. Bacon, 'Russia: Party Formation and the Legacy of the One-Party State', p.213.
80. Interview with Grigorii Yavlinskii for ORT channel, 24 Oct. 1999; interviewer Sergei Dorenko, .
81. Quoted in the Moscow Times editorial, 'Is It Treason to Question War Aims?', 16Nov. 1999, p.6.
82. Ye. Yakovlev, 'Oglobya vzamen shpagi: Spor Yavlinskogo i Chubaisa byl razreshen do ego nachala', Obshchaya gazeta, 2 Dec. 1999, p.2.
83. For a full transcript of the debate, see (accessed 15 Dec. 1999).
84. S. Chugaev, 'Tol'ko glupyi demokrat politicheskim razdoram rad', Komsomol'skaya pravda, 27 Nov. 1999, p.7;
85. Ye. Barabash, 'Kak Grigorii Alekseevich sobachilsya s Anatoliem Borisovichem', Nezavisimaya gazeta, 27 Nov. 1999, p.12.
86. L. Belin, 'Yabloko Says Union of Right Forces Spreading Disinformation', RFE/RL Election Report, No.6, 10 Dec. 1999.
87. Interview in Moskovskoye Yabloko, No.13, 11-17 Dec. 1999, p.1, quoted in T.J. Colton and M. McFaul, Popular Choice and Managed Democracy: The Russian Elections of 1999 and 2000 (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2003), pp.150-511.
88. When the government extended Chubais's contract by ten years, the party expressed its dismay: See 'Chubais Gets New UES Term; Yabloko Miffed', Moscow Times, 30 April 2003, p.2.
89. Yabloko press release, 29 May 2003,'"Yabloko" predlagaet vsem politicheskim silam ob"-edinit'sya protiv primeneniya "chernogo piara"', at (accessed 1 June 2003);
90. see also S. Andreev, 'Yabloko protiv "chernogo piara"', Komsomol'skaya pravda, 31 May 2003, p 6;
91. K. Veretennikova, 'Vse na bor'bu s chernym piarom. "Yabloko" ishchet provokatorov, skrestivshikh ego s KPRF', Vremya novostei, 30 May 2003, p.4.
92. D. Orlov, 'Plata za gryaznyi piar. Eyu mozhet stat' reputatsiya izvestnoi politicheskoi partii', Vremya novostei, 25 Aug. 2003, p.4.
93. M. Dichov, 'Kondot'ery chernogo piara: Yabloko snova razoblachilo kozin konkuratov', Izvestia, 8 Aug. 2003, p.3.
94. 'Zakazchikom organizatsii dvizheniya "Yabloko bez Yavlinskogo" yavlyaetsya Anatolii Chubais, schitaet Sergei Mitrokhin', Rosbalt News Agency press release, 1 Aug. 2003, reproduced on Yabloko's website: (accessed 5 Aug. 2003);
95. A. Kolesnichenko, 'Liberals Blame Chubais and Kokh for Dirty Campaign Tactics', Novye izvestiya, translated and reproduced on Yabloko's English website: (accessed 15 Aug. 2003).
96. 'SPS Admits Anti-Yabloko Campaign', Carnegie Moscow Center website: (accessed 15 Aug. 2003);
97. 'We Want Fair Elections!', Pravda.ru English website, 15 Aug. 2003: (accessed 16 Aug. 2003).
98. For instance during the initial protests against the takeover of NTV in 2001 and in the demonstrations against the arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovskii in October 2003 (a rare example of Yavlinskii and Chubais physically sharing a platform). In 2004 leading members of both parties, notably Sergei Ivanenko and Sergei Mitrokhin of Yabloko, and Boris Nemtsov, Irina Khakamda and Boris Nadezhdin of SPS, co-operated in the creation of Committee 2008: Free Choice.
99. In January 2003, after Yabloko had rejected Nemtsov's merger proposal, the SPS leader spoke of the difficulties of trying to gain agreement with Yavlinskii, likening this to negotiations between President Putin and the Chechen leader, Aslan Maskhadov. Earlier, in the fall-out from the Moscow theatre siege, Nemtsov had accused Yavlinskii of being 'pathologically incapable of coming to an agreement': L. Belin, 'Drive to Investigate Crisis Deepens Divisions Between Yabloko and SPS', RFE/RL Russian Political Weekly, Vol.2, No.37 (6 Nov. 2002).
100. Peter Lavelle, a contributor to Johnson's Russia List, compiling his 'wish list' for 2002, commented that he wished Grigorii Yavlinskii 'could become friends with like-minded politicians', adding that 'being liberal should mean greater tolerance': Johnson's Russia List, No.5618, 28 Dec. 2001, (accessed 28 Dec. 2001). During fieldwork carried out in Russia from March to June 2001 and in March 2002, the author regularly heard similar sentiments among 'ordinary' Russians.
101. L. Bogoraz, 'Yabloko - vse eshche v soku', Obshchaya gazeta, 2001, No.47 (22 Nov.), p.7.
102. Sergei Yushenkov, State Duma deputy, interview conducted by author, 26 April 2001, Moscow. At the time of the interview Yushenkov was still a member of SPS; he left the party shortly after its founding congress in May 2001 to found the 'Liberal Russia' party.