A short course on the history of the Yabloko party

In October 1993 The Republican, Social Democratic parties and the Russian Christian Democratic Union created the Yavlinsky-Boldyrev-Lukin electoral bloc (Yabloko – based on the initial letters of the leaders’ surnames) to participate in the elections to the State Duma of the first convocation.

December 1993 The bloc received 7.86% of the votes and received 27 parliamentary seats.

In 1994 Part of the Republican Party, led by Vladimir Lysenko, left the bloc. In January 1995 Yabloko has been transformed into a public association. Grigory Yavlinsky became its chairman, Messrs. Boldyrev and Lukin became vice-chairmen. Already in September Yuri Boldyrev left Yabloko, declaring disagreement with the bill “On Production Division” developed by the party.

December 17, 1995 In the Duma elections, Yabloko received 6.89% and 45 deputy mandates.

Late 1990s years, as a result of internal struggle in Yabloko, Mr. Yavlinsky’s idea of ​​​​creating an organization with a rigid party structure won. Collective membership was liquidated, and Yabloko members were prohibited from participating in other movements.

In December 1999 In the Duma elections, the association gained 5.93%, 20 people became deputies.

In December 2001 the association was transformed into a party, Mr. Yavlinsky became its chairman.

In December 2003 In the elections to the State Duma, the party received 4.3% of the votes and did not enter parliament; four of its members were elected in the districts.

In February 2004 Vladimir Lukin, who was appointed Commissioner for Human Rights, left the leadership of the party.

In 2007 The party again did not get into the State Duma, gaining 1.59% of the votes.

June 21, 2008 At the next election for the head of Yabloko, Grigory Yavlinsky recused himself and proposed the candidacy of deputy chairman of the party, Sergei Mitrokhin. The congress supported him. Mr. Yavlinsky himself became a member of the party’s political committee and remained its informal leader.

In the elections to the State Duma in 2011 Yabloko received 3.43% of the votes and did not enter parliament.

In December 2015 Emilia Slabunova became the leader of Yabloko; she became the second candidate on the list for the 2016 State Duma elections.

In December 2016 Yabloko received 1.99% of the votes and again did not enter parliament.

At the congress on December 15, 2019, Nikolai Rybakov was elected as the new chairman of the party. His deputies were Sergei Ivanenko, Boris Vishnevsky and Ivan Bolshakov.

In 2021 In the elections to the State Duma, the federal list of party candidates was headed by only one person – the chairman of Yabloko, Nikolai Rybakov. For the first time in the history of Yabloko, Grigory Yavlinsky refused to run for deputy. The party did not get into the State Duma, gaining 1.34% of the votes.

In December 2021 As a result of a split in the party due to support for smart voting and criticism of the leadership, some members were expelled from Yabloko. Subsequently, they formed the public movement “Yabloko”, the chairman of which was Daria Besedina (recognized as a foreign agent). In February 2022 Yabloko opposed the start of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine.

October 18, 2023 The press service of the Yabloko party reported that Grigory Yavlinsky could nominate his candidacy for the presidential elections in 2024 if Russians, on their own initiative, collect 10 million signatures in his support. After collecting the required number of signatures, the party “will make a decision on participation or non-participation in the presidential elections.” Previously, Mr. Yavlinsky was nominated three times for presidential elections, receiving the maximum result in 1996, when he received 7.34% of the vote (4th place). In 2000, 5.8% of voters voted for him; in 2018, he received 1.05% of the vote.