"Committee 2008: A Free Choice" (russian: Комитет 2008: Свободный выбор; ''Komitet 2008: Svobodnyy vybor'') was an

umbrella organization An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...

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 Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed b ...

; the original signatories of the 2004 declaration were Mikhail Berger,

Vladimir Bukovsky Vladimir Konstantinovich Bukovsky (russian: link=no, Влади́мир Константи́нович Буко́вский; 30 December 1942 – 27 October 2019) was a Russian-born British human rights activist and writer. From the late 1950 ...

, Alexander Golts, Igor Irtenyev, Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr., Yevgeny Kiselyov,

Yulia Latynina Yulia Leonidovna Latynina (russian: Ю́лия Леони́довна Латы́нина; born 16 June 1966) is a Russian writer and journalist. She is a columnist for ''Novaya Gazeta'' and the most popular host at the Echo of Moscow radio stat ...

, 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, Alexander Ryklin, Victor Shenderovich 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 Vladimir Aleksandrovich Ryzhkov (russian: Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Рыжко́в; born 3 September 1966 in Rubtsovsk) is a Russian historian and liberal politician, a former co-chair of People's Freedom Party (2006 � ...

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 2006–20 ...

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
*
Другая Россия - Official site
*
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