Grigory Yavlinsky 2000 presidential campaign

Last updated
Grigory Yavlinsky 2000 presidential campaign
Campaigned for 2000 Russian presidential election
Candidate Grigory Yavlinsky
Leader of Yabloko
(1993–2008)
Deputy Chairman of the Committee on the Operational Management of the Economy of the Soviet Union
(1991)
Deputy of the State Duma
Affiliation Yabloko
Identity card of Yavlinsky as presidential candidate. Yavlinsky 2000 election ID.png
Identity card of Yavlinsky as presidential candidate.

The Grigory Yavlinsky presidential campaign, 2000 was Grigory Yavlinsky's campaign in the 2000 Russian presidential election. Yavlinsky ran as the nominee of Yabloko. This was Yavlinsky's second presidential bid, as he had been a candidate in the previous presidential election.

Contents

Early developments

Before the emergence of Putin, Yavlinsky and Zyuganov been regarded as the only two prospective candidates to be supported by a strong constituency and a national party. [1] However, Yavlinsky's appeal was limited, as his base of support overwhelmingly came from intellectuals and those in the upper middle class. [1] Additionally, his limited experience in government was seen by analysts as a potential hindrance to his prospects, as it was believed that Russian voters wanted to vote for an individual who could "get things done", rather than someone who simply appealed to them on an ideological basis. [1]

In 1998 a limited number of polls showed Yavlinsky as one of the top-two candidates. [2] [3]

Polls consistently indicated that Yavlinsky would win in a runoff against Zyuganov. However, polls also consistently indicated that Yavlinsky would lose in a runoff against Yevgeny Primakov.

However, by late 1999 Vladimir Putin had arisen as the vast frontrunner and Yavlinsky's fortunes had faded. This reality was cemented when Yabloko underperformed in the 1999 legislative election.

Entering his presidential campaign, Yavlinsky's popularity was the lowest it had ever been. [4] His image had been badly damaged during Yabloko's campaign in the 1999 legislative elections. [4] During the autumn of 1999, Yavlinsky had wavered in his stance on the Chechen War and performed very poorly in heavily-watched televised debates. [4]

Campaign

Yavlinsky blamed Yabloko's poor performance in the preceding 1999 legislative election on a weak campaign strategy and a poor image, believing that he himself was ineffective in reaching voters on his own. [5] Thus, Yavlinsky released control of his presidential campaign strategy to others. [5]

Yavlinsky attempted to position himself as the candidate for Russia's democratic movements, and, as a presidential candidate, returned to his steadfast opposition to the handling of the Chechen War. [4] However, he nevertheless was struggling to even retain the support of Yabloko's own base of support [4] (which was estimated to comprise roughly 5% of the Russian electorate). [4] [6]

With much of the media being loyal to Putin, they provided very unflattering coverage of Yavlinsky. For instance, they publicized press conferences help by a group called "gays for Yavlinsky" (part of Putin's "dirty tricks" to decrease the appeal of Yavlinsky, as homosexuality was not widely approved of by the Russian public). [5] The ORT network not only aired reports that drew a connection between the Yavlinsky campaign and the homosexual community (alleging that they were one of the primary groups supporting him), but it also alleged that Jews and foreigners were two other groups that comprised Yavlinsky's primary base of support (hoping to harm Yavlinsky's appeal to voters harboring antisemitic or xenophobic sentiments). [7]

In February Yavlinsky reiterated his intent to combat Putin's campaign declaring,

I intend to fight Putin for the post of Russian president. I will fight the man under whose half year in power the dirtiest and most repulsive campaign tactics in the history of Russia have been used. It is under Putin that an anti-terrorist operation gave way to total war with huge numbers of victims. It is under Putin that an open union between the Kremlin, Communists and nationalists has been formed. It is under Putin that an assault on freedom of the press has begun. [8]

Yavlinsky had hired campaign experts who masterminded an attempt to drastically overhaul his image using television advertisements. [5] Yavlinsky's campaign bombarded voters with advertisements in the last two weeks of the election. [5] These ads used slogans such as "Reason, Will, Result". [5] A number of the ads attempted to show a personal side of Yavlinsky in an attempt to soften his image. [5] Yavlinsky also ran attack ads against Putin, most notably one which questioned his KGB history (the pro-Putin television channel ORT refused to run this ad). [5] While the ads were highly visible, they failed to help improve Yavlinsky's image. [5] Some observers argued that by bombarding voters with advertisements for his candidacy, he created voter fatigue around his candidacy. [5]

With his campaign focusing their efforts on its television advertisements, it neglected to allot resources to local campaign organizations, thus depriving the campaign of leafleting, locally distributed materials, and monitoring of polling places. [5]

The measured approach which Yavlinsky proposed to resolve Russia's economic ills failed to appeal to a populace that widely desired immediate solutions to its economic crisis. [1] The lack of a strong middle class hampered the appeal of many of Yavlinsky policies. [1] Russia's political polarization hindered the appeal of Yavlinsky's relatively centrist politics. [1] Additionally, many were off put by Yavlinsky's reputation as a half-Jewish intellectual. [1]

Independent candidate Yevgeny Savostyanov, who had been polling under 1% and had garnered very little attention, held a press conference in which he announced his withdrawal from the race, throwing his support behind Yavlinsky's candidacy (and urging Konstantin Titov to do the same). [5]

In a last-ditch effort during the final days of the campaign, Yavlinsky declared his willingness to establish a vast coalition of liberal movements in cooperation with figures such as Yegor Gaidar and Anatoly Chubais. [5] Chubais disregarded this as having come far too late. [5]

Outcome and concession

After the election, Yavlinsky declared that his campaign had, "achieved what we wanted: we have demonstrated that there are millions of people behind us who support what we are talking about." [7] He also declared that he hoped to establish a broader coalition for right-wing opposition to the Putin's administration. [7]

Platform and positions

In regards to social issues, Yavlinsky occupied the political left. [9] In terms of economic issues, Yavlinksy occupied the far-right of the Russian political spectrum. His politics could be classified as liberal-democratic. [10]

Yavlinsky had long been a figure who supported democratic and free market reforms, but opposed the course of actions which Yeltsin's regime had taken to implement reforms. [11]

Unlike other major political parties in Russia, Yavlinsky's Yabloko had consistently opposed military actions in Chechnya. [9] [12] This was a position that had often placed the party at odds with prevailing public sentiments. [9] In 2000, Yavlinsky was the only presidential candidate who was opposed to the war. [13] Renown human rights activist Sergei Kovalev endorsed Yavlinsky because of his stance against the war. [13]

Commenting on the Second Chechen War Yavlinsky stated,

The conflict began as an anti-terrorist operation. Now it has turned into a war against the people…It is a crime because thousands of people have been killed and this war has no future, no political solution. [13]

Yavlinsky ran as a free marketer but with measured state control. [14] He wanted stronger oversight of public money, an end to the black market and reform of the tax system coinciding with an increase in public services. [14] He also advocated for a strengthened role for the Duma and a reduction in the size of the civil bureaucracy. [14] He was the most pro-Western candidate, but only to an extent: he had been critical of the war in Chechnya but remained skeptical of NATO. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Russian United Democratic Party Yabloko is a social-liberal political party in Russia. The party consequently participated in the elections of deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of all eight convocations. Until 2003, Yabloko was represented by a faction in the State Duma and later until 2007 by individual deputies. In March 2002, the party became a full member of the Liberal International, and since November 1998, it had been in observer status. The founder of the party Grigory Yavlinsky is an honorary vice-president of the Liberal International and winner of its Prize for Freedom. Since 2006, Yabloko has been a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE). As of 2021, the party was represented by factions in 4 regional parliaments of the Russian Federation. In addition, members of the party were deputies of 13 administrative centers of the subjects of the Russian Federation, 183 representatives of the party were municipal deputies in Moscow, 84 in Saint Petersburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 Russian presidential election</span>

Presidential elections were held in Russia on 14 March 2004. Incumbent President Vladimir Putin was seeking a second full four-year term. It was a landslide victory for Putin, who was re-elected with 72% of the vote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2000 Russian presidential election</span>

Presidential elections were held in Russia on 26 March 2000. Incumbent prime minister and acting president Vladimir Putin, who had succeeded Boris Yeltsin after his resignation on 31 December 1999, was seeking a four-year term in his own right and won the elections in the first round.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grigory Yavlinsky</span> Russian politician and economist

Grigory Alekseyevich Yavlinsky is a Russian economist and politician. He has held numerous positions in the Soviet and Russian governments across different levels, including in the State Duma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union of Right Forces</span> Political party in Russia

The Union of Right Forces, was a Russian liberal-conservative political public organization and former party, initially founded as an electoral bloc in 1999 and associated with free market reforms, privatization, and the legacy of the "young reformers" of the 1990s: Anatoly Chubais, Boris Nemtsov, Sergey Kiriyenko and Yegor Gaidar. The party officially self-dissolved in 2008. Nikita Belykh was the party's last leader from 2005 to 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1996 Russian presidential election</span>

Presidential elections were held in Russia on 16 June 1996, with a second round being held on 3 July. It resulted in a victory for the incumbent President of Russia Boris Yeltsin, who ran as an independent politician. Yeltsin defeated Communist challenger Gennady Zyuganov in the run-off, receiving 54.4% of the vote. Yeltsin's second inauguration ceremony took place on 9 August.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aman Tuleyev</span> Russian politician (1944–2023)

Amangeldy Gumirovich "Aman" Tuleyev was a Russian statesman. He served as governor of Kemerovo Oblast from 1997 to 2018 and was the chairman of the Council of People's Deputies of the Kemerovo Oblast briefly in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Konstantin Titov</span> Russian politician (born 1944)

Konstantin Alekseyevich Titov is a Russian politician. He was the Senator from Samara Oblast from 2007 to 2014 and Governor of Samara Oblast from 1991 till 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007 Russian legislative election</span>

Legislative elections were held in Russia on 2 December 2007. At stake were the 450 seats in the 5th State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly. Eleven parties were included in the ballot, including Russia's largest party, United Russia, which was supported by President of Russia Vladimir Putin. Official results showed that United Russia won 64.3% of the votes, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation 11.6%, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia 8.1%, and Fair Russia won 7.7%, and none of the other parties won enough votes to gain any seats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Russian presidential election</span>

Presidential elections were held in Russia on 18 March 2018. Incumbent president Vladimir Putin was eligible to run. He declared his intent to do so on 6 December 2017 and was expected to win. This came following several months of speculation throughout the second half of 2017 as Putin made evasive comments, including that he had still not decided whether he would like to "step down" from the post of president, that he would "think about running", and that he "hadn't yet decided whether to run for another term". Different sources predicted that he would run as an independent to capitalize more support from the population, and although he could also have been nominated by the United Russia party as in 2012, Putin chose to run as an independent. Among registered voters in Russia, 67.5% voted in the election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Igor Chubais</span>


Igor Borisovich Chubais is a Russian philosopher and sociologist, Doctor of Sciences, and the author of many scientific and journalistic works. He is an initiator of the introduction of the Russian education system a new subject Russian studies. He is the first dean of "Russian studies" department at the Institute of Social Sciences and the director of Inter-University center for Russian studies in the faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia. He is a board member of the Russian Writers Union.

Third force, in relation to the 1996 Russian presidential election, refers to the possibility of a center-left third party voting bloc being formed in order to create a viable alternative to Boris Yeltsin and Gennady Zyuganov.

The 2018 presidential campaign of Grigory Yavlinsky was announced in February 2016 by co-founder of the Yabloko party Grigory Yavlinsky at a party congress. He previously ran as a candidate in 1996 and 2000, and attempted to do so again in 2012 but was rejected by the Central Election Commission due to not having enough signatures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soskovets campaign strategy</span> Campaign strategy devised by Oleg Soskovets for Boris Yeltsins 1996 reelection campaign

The Soskovets campaign strategy refers to the strategy devised by Oleg Soskovets for Boris Yeltsin's 1996 reelection campaign for the Presidency of Russia. This strategy served as the initial template for Yeltsin's campaign before being discarded by March 1996.

The Grigory Yavlinsky presidential campaign, 1996 was Grigory Yavlinsky's campaign in the 1996 Russian presidential election. Yavlinsky ran as the nominee of Yabloko. Running as a socially liberal, politically centrist, and democratic-minded candidate, he was eliminated after placing fourth in the first-round of the election. He subsequently gave his endorsement to Boris Yeltsin in the second-round of the election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vladimir Putin 2000 presidential campaign</span> First political campaign by Russian leader

The 2000 presidential campaign of Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia, was announced on 13 January 2000, during his trip to Saint Petersburg.

Grigory Yavlinsky, a former member of the State Duma, leader of the Yabloko political party, and three-time Russian presidential candidate, has taken positions on many political issues through his public comments, his presidential campaign statements, and his voting record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gennady Zyuganov 2000 presidential campaign</span> Russian presidential campaign

The Gennady Zyuganov presidential campaign, 2000 was the presidential campaign of Gennady Zyuganov in the 2000 election. This was the second presidential campaign of Zyuganov, who had previously run in the 1996 election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Candidates in the 2008 Russian presidential election</span>

This article contains the list of candidates associated with the 2008 Russian presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vladimir Zhirinovsky 2000 presidential campaign</span>

The Vladimir Zhirinovsky presidential campaign, 2000 was the election campaign of Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky in the 2000 election.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Simes, Dimitri K (1999). After the Collapse . New York City: Simon & Schuster. ISBN   0-684-82716-6.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-03-12. Retrieved 2018-10-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-03-12. Retrieved 2018-10-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "RUSSIAN ELECTION WATCH No. 8, March 2000". www.belfercenter.org. Harvard University (John F. Kennedy School of Government). March 2000. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "RUSSIAN ELECTION WATCH No. 9, April 2000". www.belfercenter.org. Harvard University (John F. Kennedy School of Government). April 2000. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
  6. ↑ McFaul, Michael (April 1, 2000). "Russia's 2000 Presidential Elections: Implications for Russian Democracy and U.S.-Russian Relations (testimony)". www.carnegieendowment.org. Carnegie Endowment. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 Wines, Michael (March 27, 2000). "ELECTION IN RUSSIA: THE OVERVIEW; Putin Wins Russia Vote in First Round, But His Majority Is Less Than Expected". The New York Times . Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  8. ↑ The Russia Journal, 2/14-20
  9. 1 2 3 White, David (2006). The Russian Democratic Party Yabloko: Opposition in a Managed Democracy. Ashgate Publishing, LTD.
  10. ↑ "Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO". www.eng.yabloko.ru. Yabloko. n.d. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  11. ↑ Zamyatina, Tamara (December 1, 1995). "PARTIES: YABLOKO". Prism . Jamestown Foundation . Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  12. ↑ Lipshitz, Cnaan (January 19, 2018). "Liberal Jewish politician emerging as main opposition challenger to Putin". www.timesofisrael.com. Times of Israel. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  13. 1 2 3 "RUSSIAN ELECTION WATCH No. 7, February 2000". www.belfercenter.org. Harvard University (John F. Kennedy School of Government). February 2000. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  14. 1 2 3 4 White, S. (2001). The Russian presidential election, March 2000. Electoral Studies, 20(3).
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.