The Coordination Council of the Russian opposition was a non-governmental political and civic body that existed in 2012–2013. Elections to the council were held on 20–22 October 2012. The Coordination Council of the first convocation was elected for one year, after which new elections were expected. However, they did not take place, and in October 2013, the council actually ceased to exist.
Elections to the coordination council (CS) were organized after numerous mass political protests by Russian citizens, which began after the elections to the State Duma of the VI convocation on 4 December 2011, continued during the campaign for the election of the President of Russia, and after the presidential elections held on 4 March 2012.
The creation of the Coordination Council was announced at the second "March of Millions" on 12 June 2012. The council was disbanded on 19 October 2013.
Goals and objectives After the second meeting of the Coordination Council, two approaches to defining the goals and objectives of the CS emerged. The first, led by Andrei Piontkovsky (radicals): it is necessary to continue demanding re-elections to the State Duma, the resignation of Vladimir Putin, and the implementation of deep political reforms. The second, led by Ksenia Sobchak (moderate): it is necessary to remove anti-Putin slogans, demand specific reforms (judicial, electoral, constitutional), thereby influencing the authorities.
As a result, at the second meeting of the CS, a working group was created, which included Vladimir Ashurkov, Andrei Piontkovsky, Sergei Parkhomenko, Alexei Gaskarov, Boris Nemtsov, Gennady Gudkov, and Konstantin Krylov. The group is supposed to come to a common solution by the third meeting, eliminating disagreements in defining the goals and objectives of the Council.
On 29 November 2012, Mikhail Khodorkovsky transmitted a message through his representative to all members of the Coordination Council, in which he expressed his opinion about the emerging "split" in the CS. In his address, Khodorkovsky notes that the slogans of the CS should be realistic and achievable, urging both sides to find a compromise.
Elections
The elections elected a Council consisting of 45 deputies. At the same time, 30 of them were elected from the general citizen list, and another 15 - from "ideological curiae". Each voter received 4 electronic ballots at the polling station: for the general citizen part of the list, for voting for representatives of left-wing forces, for voting for representatives of liberals, for voting for representatives of nationalists. In the "large" ballot, the voter had the right to put no more than 30 check marks, in the "small" ones – no more than 5. In other words, the voter had 45 votes, which he could distribute at his discretion.
The elections were organized by the Central Election Committee. The chairman of the committee was elected Leonid Volkov. Three members of the committee were delegated by the main ideological currents included in the organizing committee of the protest actions (Alexander Ivanov represents the left, Elena Denezhkina represents the nationalists, Denis Yud in represents the liberals). The committee also included representatives of associations involved in election monitoring: Deputy Executive Director of the Golos association Grigory Melkonyants, member of the Sonar movement Vasily Weisenberg, and activist of the "Citizen Observer" project Yulia Drogova. In addition, specialists in the field of Internet technologies Anton Nosik and Ilya Segalovich, founder of the votepoller.com voting website Valentin Preobrazhensky, member of the board of the Foundation for the Development of Electronic Democracy Maxim Osovsky, and member of the council of the Sonar movement Olga Feygina were included in the committee as experts.
Composition Composition of the Coordination Council in order of votes cast. General citizen list Alexei Navalny Dmitry Bykov Garry Kasparov Ksenia Sobchak Ilya Yashin Mikhail Gelfand Yevgenia Chirikova (left the CS) Mikhail Shats Vladimir Ashurkov Dmitry Gudkov (left the CS) Tatyana Lazareva Sergei Parkhomenko (left the CS) Philip Dyadko Gennady Gudkov (left the CS) Lyubov Sobol Boris Nemtsov Olga Romanova (left the CS) Oleg Kashin Andrei Illarionov Sergey Udaltsov Vladimir Kara-Murza Rustem Adagamov Alexander Vinokurov Maxim Katz (left the CS) Suren Gazaryan Georgy Alburov Andrei Piontkovsky (left the CS) Vladimir Mirzoev Oleg Shein (left the CS) Vladislav Naganov Left-wing forces Alexei Gaskarov Ekaterina Aitova (left the CS) Alexander Nikolaev Akhm Palchaev Leonid Razvozhaev Liberal forces Sergey Davidis Andrei Pivovarov Anton Dolgih Anna Karetnikova Petr Tsarykov (left the CS) Nationalist forces Daniil Konstantinov Igor Artyomov Nikolai Bondarik Konstantin Krylov Vladlen Kralin (Vladimir Tor)
Meetings No. Date Main agenda CS members Chairman Video-recording Steno-gram 1 27 October 2012 Political prisoners Regulations Mass actions 37 out of 45 Alexei Navalny 2 24 November 2012 Mass protests in December# Inclusion of opposition representatives in the composition of UIK CS regulations Election of the responsible secretary Budget committee and financing# CS website "On the situation in the country and the tasks of the protest movement" "On amendments to the Federal Law 'On Citizenship of the Russian Federation Report on the implementation of measures under the Plan of Priority Actions Final protocol and reports of the CEC 38 out of 45 Garry Kasparov 3 16 December 2012 Discussion of the current socio-political situation and the strategy for the development of the CS Draft statement "On the situation in the country and the tasks of the protest movement" Formation of CS working groups Primaries for nominating a single candidate from the opposition in the elections for Governor of Moscow Oblast and head of Yekaterinburg Adoption of amendments to the CS regulations Procedure for interaction with the Expert Council of the Opposition# Report and proposals of the budget committee. Expenses for the functioning of the CS Resolutions proposed by N. N. Bondarik 34 out of 45 Gennady Gudkov 4 20 January 2013 Mass protests in March 33 out of 44 Vladimir Tor 5 16 February 2013 Discussion of spring protest actions. Appeal to the participants of the events of 6 May and resolution on political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. Appeal on the expansion of the Magnitsky list. Programmatic statement on the goals and objectives of the CS 27 out of 43 Boris Nemtsov 6 16 March 2013 Plan of protest actions for the spring of 2013 g. Creation of regional CS opposition offices. Proposals to working groups: "On the preparation of draft laws", "On the creation of basic propaganda materials", "On the voting system in the elections of the second CS convocation". Report of the budget committee. 27 out of 43 Alexei Gaskarov 7 20 April 2013 Discussion of the action on 6 May 2013 g. Election of the Responsible Secretary of the CSO (Marat Davletbaev was elected) 30 out of 42 Mikhail Gelfand 8 18 May 2013 Providing assistance to the family of Maxim Melkov. Support for the civic initiative to hold a mass protest action in Moscow on 12 June 2013 g. Discussion of the 6 May 2013 rally on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow. 27 out of 42 Sergey Davidis 9 15 June 2013 Making a final decision on the issue of a single candidate from the opposition and supporting the candidacies of Alexei Navalny and Sergey Udaltsov in the elections for the mayor of Moscow The "Week of Action in Support of Alexei Gaskarov" campaign 26 out of 40 Ilya Konstantinov 11 21 September 2013
Chronology
October 2012 On 24 October, the first statement of part of the CS members "Against Repression and Torture" was published.
On 26 October, on behalf of part of the CS members (21 people), an appeal was published to hold a "From Lubyanka to Lefortovo. We are against repression and torture" action in Moscow on 27 October, starting at 3 pm. At this time, a chain of solitary pickets with placards dedicated to protesting against political repression in Russia will line up from the FSB building on Lubyanka Square to the headquarters of the Investigative Committee on Technical Lane.
On 27 October, the first meeting of the Coordination Council of the Opposition was held in Moscow from 12:00 for two and a half hours under the chairmanship of Alexei Navalny. The meeting was attended by 35 out of 45 elected Council members plus two via the Internet. The Coordination Council, already on its own behalf, and not on behalf of individual members, adopted a statement "Against Political Repression". CS members chose the "Democracy-2" online platform to inform Council members and conduct votes on various issues, and also appointed CS member Alexander Vinokurov and coordinator of the Committee of Civic Initiatives Dmitry Nekrasov as organizers of the next Council meeting. CS members supported the holding of a rally on 30 October in support of political prisoners, and also expressed their intention to participate in a "peaceful walk" against repression and torture on 27 October. This action began on Lubyanka almost immediately after the CS meeting.
November 2012 On 24 November, the second meeting of the Coordination Council of the Opposition was held in Moscow from 12:00. Decisions were made on the regulations, the date of the "March of Freedom" on 15 December was named, the responsible secretary Dmitry Nekrasov was approved, and more.
December 2012 On 14 December, the CS Statement on the 15 December March was published.
On 16 December, the third meeting of the CS was held. At it, a programmatic statement was adopted, based on the text "On the Goals and Objectives of the CSO", prepared by a group consisting of Vladimir Ashurkov, Alexey Gaskarov, Boris Nemtsov, and Sergei Parkhomenko. This programmatic statement was adopted by the CS with the minimum required number of votes (23 out of 45). An alternative programmatic statement "Our goal is a free democratic Russia" was proposed by a group consisting of A. Dolgih, A. Illarionov, I. Konstantinov, A. Piontkovsky. At the meeting, the formation of working groups on the main areas of activity of the CS was also initiated.
January 2013 On 20 January, the fourth meeting of the CS was held. The participants of the meeting honored the memory of Alexander Dolmatov, a defendant in the "Bolotnaya" case, with a minute of silence. 16 decisions were made. In particular, about the organization of the "March against the Executioners" in the spring of 2013 g. An amendment on the need to eliminate the system of political investigation in Russia received a majority of 27 votes. The composition of nine working groups was approved. January was also marked by the opening of the PLURALIST website, dedicated to the activities of the CC.
February 2013 On 11 February, the CC website was launched.
On 16 February, the fifth meeting of the CC was held. Sergey Udaltsov was supposed to chair, but shortly before the meeting, by a decision of the Basmanny Court, he was placed under house arrest. Boris Nemtsov chaired. Vladislav Naganov wrote about the documents adopted at this meeting of the CC in his LiveJournal.
At the end of February, CC member Rustem Adagamo announced that he had moved to Prague, where he would "engage in photojournalism, write in a blog". Adagamo's decision was criticized by some opposition members.
March 2013 On 5 March, the CC adopted a statement on the construction of a road to Putin's winter residence and the resolution "On political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Russia".
On 6 March, the voting on the creation of the Forum for a Free Russia was completed. A positive decision was made by a majority vote.