Congress and Fingerprints
The People's Alliance held another founding congress yesterday.
I understand that the words “another” and “founding” look odd together, but this is exactly the case.
The People's Alliance has supporters, an ideology and a platform, but it has no document from the Ministry of Justice yet.
And that is exactly the reason for it, because if someone has supporters, an ideology and a platform, the Ministry of Justice would not issue the document to register them. Because this someone could start successfully participating in the elections.
You can have a look at the history of the People’s Alliance in my posts:
April 2012 http://navalny.livejournal.com/700532.html
November 2012 http://navalny.livejournal.com/748972.html
January 2013 http://navalny.livejournal.com/767541.html
March 2013 http://navalny.livejournal.com/778232.html
October 2013 http://navalny.livejournal.com/867896.html
I had a chance to see the need of such a party in the last election, which I participated in with the People’s Alliance’s actual platform. I also had requests from many of the voters to see a party with this Platform on the ballot so that they can finally have someone to vote for.
Let me repeat what I said at the Congress.
We have to make the People’s Alliance Party official because it gives many people the reason to attend the elections and a worthy candidate to vote for.
As it is now, no one represents the interests of these people, they have no party to vote for and their only election strategy is to vote in any way that harms the Party of corruption “United Russia”.
We created and widely used the slogan “Vote for anyone, but against “United Russia” - the Party of Crooks and Thieves”.
This slogan has one serious drawback - people want to vote not just against someone, they need to vote FOR someone that they can put their trust and hopes in.
The demand for this party is huge, and The People’s Alliance could satisfy it.
On the very first meeting of The People’s Alliance, I said that their main achievement is the emergence of a new real opposition, representing the interests of the majority and not accepting the position of a 5% electoral ghetto.
I am positive that no one but The People’s Alliance can become this kind of opposition. Together we have busted the myth about opposition being a few little scattered ideological groups - left wing, liberalists, nationalists.
I claim that the political needs of the majority of people are broader than those political parties offer. Right now Russia is being turned into a feudal state with never-ending corruption for the benefit of a few families, whose members keep taking high positions in specially created state companies. In this situation people want to vote for the Party whose goals are:
- fighting against corruption
- maintaining European way of development
- fair distribution of resource rents in general, gas and oil rent in particular
- fair distribution of power that belongs to the regions, not in one Moscow cabinet
I offered myself as Chairman and was supported by the Congress, whom I thank for their trust.
I was proud for the fact that The People’s Alliance elected a new political council with none of the superfluous paperwork typical for other parties’ meetings. Everyone who was willing to talk - talked, willing to nominate - nominated, and the congress voted.
I am convinced that the big difference of the People’s Alliance from other parties will be a direct electronic democracy. The important decisions (including staff-oriented) will be made by direct voting of every member of the party. The leaders of the regional departments will be elected and re-elected by department members, not by conferences.
This way we can remove the typical gap between party members and its leaders.
Right now, the leaders of any party cannot be re-elected and replaced, they can’t be affected in any way, which de-motivates the active members of the party and eventually results in the party turning into a fiction that exists only on the paper.
We need the party in the race for power, not for receiving public funds.
So, join in http://peoplesalliance.ru/support/member/
During the Congress, I was asked multiple times about my plans for the following day after becoming the party leader.
So, the next day I went to a domiciliary penal inspection.
http://instagram.com/navalny4
A polite lady-inspector put me on record as a criminal under supervision, took my fingerprints and filled a bunch of questionnaires with questions similar to this one: “Are you boasting about your criminal past?”.
We stumbled once when we got to the section “Life goals”. There was the brilliant point “Planning to revenge judges, investigators and staff of Interior Ministry” which I would have ticked with no doubt, if it hadn’t been too small for a life goal.
The point “Planning to turn Russia into a fair, lawful, European state” for some reason wasn’t on the list.
After a little discussion with the inspector, I chose “Planning to do honest work”.
Originally posted by navalny on 2013-11-18 14:16:00
Translated by O. Well
I understand that the words “another” and “founding” look odd together, but this is exactly the case.
The People's Alliance has supporters, an ideology and a platform, but it has no document from the Ministry of Justice yet.
And that is exactly the reason for it, because if someone has supporters, an ideology and a platform, the Ministry of Justice would not issue the document to register them. Because this someone could start successfully participating in the elections.
You can have a look at the history of the People’s Alliance in my posts:
April 2012 http://navalny.livejournal.com/700532.html
November 2012 http://navalny.livejournal.com/748972.html
January 2013 http://navalny.livejournal.com/767541.html
March 2013 http://navalny.livejournal.com/778232.html
October 2013 http://navalny.livejournal.com/867896.html
I had a chance to see the need of such a party in the last election, which I participated in with the People’s Alliance’s actual platform. I also had requests from many of the voters to see a party with this Platform on the ballot so that they can finally have someone to vote for.
Let me repeat what I said at the Congress.
We have to make the People’s Alliance Party official because it gives many people the reason to attend the elections and a worthy candidate to vote for.
As it is now, no one represents the interests of these people, they have no party to vote for and their only election strategy is to vote in any way that harms the Party of corruption “United Russia”.
We created and widely used the slogan “Vote for anyone, but against “United Russia” - the Party of Crooks and Thieves”.
This slogan has one serious drawback - people want to vote not just against someone, they need to vote FOR someone that they can put their trust and hopes in.
The demand for this party is huge, and The People’s Alliance could satisfy it.
On the very first meeting of The People’s Alliance, I said that their main achievement is the emergence of a new real opposition, representing the interests of the majority and not accepting the position of a 5% electoral ghetto.
I am positive that no one but The People’s Alliance can become this kind of opposition. Together we have busted the myth about opposition being a few little scattered ideological groups - left wing, liberalists, nationalists.
I claim that the political needs of the majority of people are broader than those political parties offer. Right now Russia is being turned into a feudal state with never-ending corruption for the benefit of a few families, whose members keep taking high positions in specially created state companies. In this situation people want to vote for the Party whose goals are:
- fighting against corruption
- maintaining European way of development
- fair distribution of resource rents in general, gas and oil rent in particular
- fair distribution of power that belongs to the regions, not in one Moscow cabinet
I offered myself as Chairman and was supported by the Congress, whom I thank for their trust.
I was proud for the fact that The People’s Alliance elected a new political council with none of the superfluous paperwork typical for other parties’ meetings. Everyone who was willing to talk - talked, willing to nominate - nominated, and the congress voted.
I am convinced that the big difference of the People’s Alliance from other parties will be a direct electronic democracy. The important decisions (including staff-oriented) will be made by direct voting of every member of the party. The leaders of the regional departments will be elected and re-elected by department members, not by conferences.
This way we can remove the typical gap between party members and its leaders.
Right now, the leaders of any party cannot be re-elected and replaced, they can’t be affected in any way, which de-motivates the active members of the party and eventually results in the party turning into a fiction that exists only on the paper.
We need the party in the race for power, not for receiving public funds.
So, join in http://peoplesalliance.ru/support/member/
During the Congress, I was asked multiple times about my plans for the following day after becoming the party leader.
So, the next day I went to a domiciliary penal inspection.
http://instagram.com/navalny4
A polite lady-inspector put me on record as a criminal under supervision, took my fingerprints and filled a bunch of questionnaires with questions similar to this one: “Are you boasting about your criminal past?”.
We stumbled once when we got to the section “Life goals”. There was the brilliant point “Planning to revenge judges, investigators and staff of Interior Ministry” which I would have ticked with no doubt, if it hadn’t been too small for a life goal.
The point “Planning to turn Russia into a fair, lawful, European state” for some reason wasn’t on the list.
After a little discussion with the inspector, I chose “Planning to do honest work”.
Originally posted by navalny on 2013-11-18 14:16:00
Translated by O. Well