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Western Choice

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Western Choice
Западный выбор
ChairmanKonstantin Borovoi
FoundersKonstantin Borovoi
Valeriya Novodvorskaya
Alexei Devotchenko
Founded17 March 2013(2013-03-17)
Registered9 December 2013(2013-12-09)
Dissolved1 August 2014(2014-08-01)
Preceded byDemocratic Union
Membership(1 Oct 2013)>2,000
IdeologyLiberalism
Liberal democracy
Libertarianism
Anti-communism
Pro-Europeanism
Atlanticism
Political positionCentre-right
International affiliationTransnational Radical Party
ColoursBlue
Orange
Website
westchoice.ru (archived)

TheWestern Choice(Russian:Западный выбор,romanized:Zapadnyy vybor) was a Russian short-lived liberal political party founded in 2013 by opposition politiciansKonstantin BorovoiandValeriya Novodvorskaya.[1][2]Konstantin Borovoi was elected chairman of the party.

Registered with theMinistry of Justice of the Russian Federationon December 9, 2013.[3]The state registration of the party was canceled on August 1, 2014.

History

[edit]

The ideologists of the creation of a new party in November 2012 were the chairman of theParty of Economic FreedomKonstantin Borovoi and the chairwoman of theDemocratic Unionparty Valeriya Novodvorskaya. The founders presented their project on the air ofRadio Liberty,explaining that they aim to create a broad electoral party based on the principle laid down in the name, which includes the concepts of freedom, legality, market economy, democracy and humanism.[4]

On 28 November 2012, the Initiative Group of the Western Choice Party was created. TheFacebookpage has become the main platform for the work of the initiative group, where within a few weeks the number of party supporters reached 500 people. In January 2013, the group prepared drafts of the party program,[5]authored by Valeria Novodvorskaya, and its charter,[1]the main developer of which was the lawyer Vadim Danilenko.

On 6 January 2013, the group decided to register the party with the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. The organizing committee of the party was created, which included 16 people. The first official meeting was held on 19 January 2013 at theSakharov Center.The application for the preparation, convening and holding of the Constituent Party Congress was registered with theMinistry of Justice of the Russian Federationon 22 January 2013 under No. 15-4559/13. An announcement about the creation of the party was published inRossiyskaya Gazeta.[6][7]The organizing committee decided to hold the founding congress of the party on 17 March 2013. The announcement of this was published on February 6 inRossiyskaya Gazeta.[8][9]

The founding congress of the party was held on March 17, 2013.[10]Borovoy was elected chairman of the party, the Bureau of its Central Coordinating Council included secretary Yu.P. Zarubina and heads of departments A.I. Mavrodi (Moscow), V.G. Danilenko (Moscow region), A.E. Yankovsky (Novosibirsk), N.N. Gulevskaya (Stavropol) and T.Kh. Khairullin (St. Petersburg). In the spring, party leaders visited a number of cities in Russia, where they held meetings with the public and the press and presented new party branches.[11][12]

On December 9, 2013, the Western Choice party was registered by the Ministry of Justice. The main provisions of the party program were officially published inRossiyskaya Gazeta.[13]Information about the party was also included in the 2nd edition of the publication “Political Parties in the Russian Federation”, published in 2014.[14]

Party goals

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The Western Choice party declared its task to familiarize Russia with universal human values. Members of the party calledJuraj Križanić,Prince Mikhail of Tver,Pyotr Chaadayev,Sergei Witte,Vladimir Solovyov,Andrei Sakharov,Yegor Gaidar,Galina StarovoytovaandSergei Yushenkovtheir ideological predecessors, and among their goals they declared the withdrawal of Russian troops from foreign territories, Russia's entry into theEUandNATO,the abolition of institutions for military service and registration, theban on communist symbols,the release of political prisoners, the privatization of state property, etc.[15]

Actions

[edit]
Leaders of the Western Choice party Valeria Novodvorskaya and Konstantin Borovoy at thePeace Marchon March 15, 2014

During its existence, the party regularly issued political statements and appeals, including those onevents in Ukraine.Among them:[16]

  • Statement on the "Prohibition of Propaganda of Homosexuality" Law;[17]
  • Statement "For your and our Maidans";[18]
  • Statement “The people of Ukraine have risen!Glory to Ukraine!Glory to the heroes! ";[19]
  • Statement to the leaders of the EU and US countries "Stop Russia's aggression against Ukraine";[20]
  • Petition to international parliamentary organizations,PACEand parliaments of democratic states;
  • Statement against theSyrian adventureofVladimir Putinand other

On December 12, 2013, the Western Choice party held a picket in defense of the Russian Constitution, on March 2, 2014, it came out with a picket in support ofEuromaidanin front of the Ukrainian Embassy, and on March 15, 2014, took part in thePeace March rallyin Moscow.

In March 2014, the head of the Kaliningrad regional branch of the party, Oleg Savvin, was arrested for hanging the German flag in the garage of the regionalFSB.[21][22]In April, the head of the regional branch of the party inChechnya,Asya Gazhaeva, was detained.[23]

A series of solitary actions in Moscow was undertaken by party activist Ekaterina Maldon,[24]pickets and events with the participation of party members were also held inVolgograd[25]andTolyatti.[26]In 2015, Maldon, Konstantin Golava, as well as a member of the party, the editor of the opposition publications Amurburg and Newsader, which regularly provided it with an information platform, were forced to emigrate.[27]

Deregistration

[edit]

According to the laws of the Russian Federation in force at that time, in order to complete the state registration procedure, within 6 months, a political party had to register branches in at least half of the country's constituent entities. Only 25 out of 52 created branches of the Western Choice party were registered on time, so the required minimum was not reached, and therefore on August 1, 2014, the registration of the party was officially canceled.

A month earlier, on July 12, 2014, the ideologist of the Western Choice party, Valeriya Novodvorskaya, passed away. On November 5, actor and party activistAlexei Devotchenkodied. On November 20, opposition journalist, head of the Kamchatka branch of the party Igor Kravchuk died.[28]

Western Choice continued to exist as an unregistered party, and then as a political club and discussion platform. The party did not make a formal decision to dissolve itself, and its leaders Konstantin Borovoy and the head of the Stavropol branch Natalya Gulevskaya continued to publish materials and comment on the agenda under her name. In 2018, they introduced the new heads of the Moscow (Dmitry Kulish) and St. Petersburg (Marina Ken) branches of the party, who organized a number of protest actions in their cities. In 2019, Borovoy asked for asylum in the United States, and civil activist Marina Ken left the country the following year.

Party members

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Criticism

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In April 2014, State Duma deputy from theLDPRRoman Khudyakovsent an appeal to the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation with a request to check the legality of the activities of the Western Choice party. In particular, the deputy was outraged by the Russian party's support for the new authorities of Ukraine and theRight Sectormovement recognized in Russia as extremist.[29]

References

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  1. ^ab"Устав партии" Западный Выбор "".Archived fromthe originalon 2013-12-07.Retrieved2013-09-28.
  2. ^"Валерия Новодворская сделала" Западный выбор "".kommersant.ru(in Russian). 2013-01-25. Archived fromthe originalon 2021-11-05.Retrieved2021-11-05.
  3. ^Сведения о регистрации партии «Западный Выбор» на сайтеArchived2014-01-18 at theWayback MachineМинистерства юстиции России
  4. ^Яков Кротов (2012-11-22)."Что может сделать в политике меньшинство?".Радио Свобода(in Russian). Archived fromthe originalon 2022-06-08.Retrieved2022-06-08.
  5. ^"Программа партии" Западный Выбор "".Archived fromthe originalon 2013-10-13.Retrieved2013-09-28.
  6. ^«Российская газета» (№ 5993 от 29 января 2013 г., стр. 3)
  7. ^О создании Оргкомитета объявлено в «Российской газете»// Новости партии «Западный Выбор»
  8. ^«Российская газета» (№ 6000 от 6 февраля 2013 г.)
  9. ^Извещение об учредительном съезде партии в «Российской Газете»// Новости партии «Западный Выбор»
  10. ^Александр Подрабинек (2013-03-17).""Западный выбор" стартовал в Москве ".Радио RFI(in Russian). Archived fromthe originalon 2021-11-05.Retrieved2022-06-08.
  11. ^Анастасия Рюмцева (2013-04-15).""Оппозиционные" выходные: Новодворская и Боровой ".Зебра.ТВ(in Russian). Archived fromthe originalon 2022-06-08.Retrieved2022-06-08.
  12. ^Андрей Комиссаров (2013-04-15)."Константин Боровой:" Нам интересен Ярославль, потому что сейчас здесь происходит политическое бурление "".Ярньюс. Нет(in Russian). Archived fromthe originalon 2018-09-07.Retrieved2022-06-08.
  13. ^Основные положения Программы Политической партии «Западный Выбор»Archived2014-01-23 at theWayback Machineопубликованные в Российской Газете // «Российская Газета», Федеральный выпуск № 6270, 27 декабря 2013 года
  14. ^"Политические партии в Российской Федерации"(PDF)(in Russian). 2014. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2022-06-08.Retrieved2022-06-08.
  15. ^Валерия Новодворская (2012-12-14)."Программа политической партии" Западный выбор ""(in Russian).
  16. ^"Заявления партии" Западный выбор ""(in Russian). Партия «Западный выбор». Archived fromthe originalon 2016-03-03.
  17. ^""Западный выбор» стал первой партией, осудившей закон о «пропаганде гомосексуализма""(in Russian). Контуры. 2013-01-28. Archived fromthe originalon 2022-06-08.Retrieved2022-06-08.
  18. ^""За ваши и наши Майданы""(in Russian). Народна правда. 2013-12-01. Archived fromthe originalon 2014-03-17.Retrieved2022-06-08.
  19. ^"Заявление партии" Западный выбор ": Народ Украины восстал! Слава Украине! Героям слава!"(in Russian). Maxpark. 2014-02-19. Archived fromthe originalon 2014-03-17.Retrieved2022-06-08.
  20. ^"Западный Выбор: Остановить агрессию России против Украины!"(in Russian). Контуры. 2014-03-02. Archived fromthe originalon 2017-04-13.Retrieved2022-06-08.
  21. ^"Обращение партии" Западный выбор "к руководству Украины"(in Russian). Партия «Западный выбор». Archived fromthe originalon 2015-02-07.
  22. ^"Олег Саввин"(in Russian). Грани.ру. Archived fromthe originalon 2022-06-07.Retrieved2022-06-07.
  23. ^"В Чечне задержана глава регионального отделения партии" Западный Выбор "Ася Гажаева"(in Russian). Амурбург. Archived fromthe originalon 2022-06-08.Retrieved2022-06-08.
  24. ^"Екатерина Мальдон"(in Russian). Грани.ру. Archived fromthe originalon 2022-03-07.Retrieved2022-06-07.
  25. ^"Одиночный пикет против войны на Украине прошел в Волгограде"(in Russian). Кавказский узел. Archived fromthe originalon 2022-06-08.Retrieved2022-06-08.
  26. ^"Константин Голава"(in Russian). Грани.ру. Archived fromthe originalon 2022-01-23.Retrieved2022-06-08.
  27. ^"Монолог человека, который решил открыть независимые СМИ в Хабаровском крае"(in Russian). Dokumedija.
  28. ^Владимир Хитров, Вадим Герц (2014-11-22)."Памяти Игоря Кравчука".Кам 24(in Russian).
  29. ^Дмитрий Рункевич, Елена Малай (2014-04-10)."Партию Борового и Новодворской просят лишить регистрации".Известия(in Russian). Archived fromthe originalon 2021-11-05.Retrieved2021-11-05.
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