"Committee 2008: A Free Choice" (russian: Комитет 2008: Свободный выбор; ''Komitet 2008: Svobodnyy vybor'') was an umbrella organization of the Russian democratic opposition, launched on 29 January 2004 and broke up in the spring of 2005.

History

It was formed in response to the failure of

Yabloko The Russian United Democratic Party Yabloko (RUDP Yabloko) (russian: Росси́йская объединённая демократи́ческая па́ртия «Я́блоко», Rossíyskaya obyedinyónnaya demokratícheskaya pártiya "Y ...

and the

Union of Right Forces )"Liberty, Property, Legality"(russian: "Свобода, Собственность, Законность") , headquarters = Moscow , newspaper = Just Cause , membership_year = 2007 , membership = 57,410 , ideology ...

to gain any seats in the 2003 elections to the State Duma, and to the growing authoritarianism of President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

who was re-elected in March 2004 with over 70% of the votes cast. The Committee's goal was to ensure free and fair presidential elections in 2008. Putin was due to step down as President, after serving two terms, and the Committee intended to work against the election of the Kremlin's chosen successor, whoever that might be. The chairman of the 2008 Committee was Garry Kasparov; the original signatories of the 2004 declaration were Mikhail Berger, Vladimir Bukovsky, Alexander Golts, Igor Irtenyev,

Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr. Vladimir Vladimirovich Kara-Murza (russian: Владимир Владимирович Кара-Мурза; born 7 September 1981) is a Russian political activist, journalist, author, and filmmaker. A protégé of Boris Nemtsov, he serves as vi ...

Yevgeny Kiselyov Yevgeny Alexeyevich Kiselyov (russian: Евгений Алексеевич Киселёв, uk, Євген Олексійович Кисельов; born 15 June 1956) is a Russian television journalist. As the host of the NTV weekly news show ''I ...

, Yulia Latynina, Dmitry Muratov,

Boris Nemtsov Boris Yefimovich Nemtsov ( rus, Бори́с Ефи́мович Немцо́в, p=bɐˈrʲis jɪˈfʲiməvʲɪtɕ nʲɪmˈtsof; 9 October 195927 February 2015) was a Russian physicist and liberal politician. He was involved in the introduction ...

Sergey Parkhomenko Sergey Borisovich Parkhomenko (russian: Серге́й Бори́сович Пархо́менко; born March 13, 1964) is a Russian publisher, journalist and political commentator. Biography Parkhomenko was born in Moscow in 1964 and gradua ...

, Alexander Ryklin,

Victor Shenderovich Viktor Anatolyevich Shenderovich (russian: Ви́ктор Анато́льевич Шендеро́вич; born August 15, 1958) is a Russian satirist, writer, scriptwriter and radio host. Biography Shenderovich was born in Moscow into a family of ...

and Irina Yasina.Declaration of the "2008 - A Free Choice" Committee, 29 January 2004 (retrieved 10 June 2015.
Others who joined later were politicians Vladimir Ryzhkov and

Irina Khakamada Irina Mutsuovna Khakamada ( rus, Ири́на Муцу́овна Хакама́да, p=ɪˈrʲinə mʊˈtsuəvnə xəkɐˈmadə; ja, 袴田イリーナ; born April 13, 1955, in Moscow) is a Russian economist, political activist, journalist, pu ...

. The Committee was short-lived, holding its last meeting in summer 2005. A number of its members subsequently helped to set up the

United Civil Front United Civil Front (UCF; russian: Объединённый гражданский фронт; ОГФ; ''Obyedinonnyy grazhdanskiy front'', ''OGF'') is a social movement in Russia founded and led by chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov. In 2006–200 ...

and the much broader Other Russia coalition (2006-2010) which were actively engaged in protest activities in 2007 and 2008.

References

External links

The Other Russia - Official site
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Другая Россия - Official site
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Сайт «Марш несогласных»
- March of the Discontented *
Итоговое заявление участников конференции «Другая Россия»
Concluding statement by the participants, www.kasparov.ru Defunct political party alliances in Russia Liberalism in Russia Political parties established in 2004 2008 Russian presidential election {{Russia-party-stub