Russia bars only anti-war party from elections

MOSCOW - Russia’s Supreme Court on Aug 10 barred the country’s only anti-war party, Yabloko, from contesting September’s parliamentary elections.

The court thereby upheld a suit brought by a pro-Kremlin nationalist party, stripping voters opposed to the four-and-a-half-year war in Ukraine of their last option on the ballot.

“The claims seeking to annul the registration of the federal list of candidates for the State Duma of the ninth convocation, nominated by the Yabloko political party, were granted,” judge Vyacheslav Kirillov said.

About a hundred supporters, mostly young people, gathered outside the courthouse, chanting “Shame! Shame!” after the ruling was delivered.

Addressing them after the hearing, Yabloko leader Nikolay Rybakov said the party would appeal the decision.

“We have a long way ahead and we have a big and important task: to stop deaths and bring the peace back,” he said.

“Everything we do should be dedicated to that,” Rybakov added.

With most of President Vladimir Putin’s opponents jailed, exiled or dead, Yabloko is the only liberal party still operating in Russia.

The party has received the backing of several exiled opposition figures, including Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Both are listed as “extremists” in Russia.

A poll conducted earlier this year showed Yabloko (“apple” in Russian) at just 3 per cent support – short of the 5 per cent threshold needed to enter Russia’s lower house.

With the Kremlin tightening its control over elections, Yabloko has failed to win seats in the State Duma since 2003.

Since then, every parliamentary vote has been won by the ruling United Russia party, which backs Putin.

Efforts to end the Ukraine war through diplomacy have so far failed, with Putin pushing hardline territorial demands to end the fighting and ruling out talks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Independent polls show most Russians favour peace negotiations with Kyiv. AFP