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Enough-Silence-Kseni Enough silence. For several months now I have been thinking about it. And not because that's how women are, trying everything on for size, but because that’s how I am. I take every opportunity as a challenge. In the five years that have passed since the protest wave of 2012, my political views have taken conclusive shape. I am ready to announce them and defend them at any level - even the very highest. I am 36 years old, I have lived and worked in Russia all my life, my name is Ksenia Sobchak and I care about my country and what becomes of it. I give careful consideration to any actions in the public arena and, realizing all the risks and incredible difficulties of such a task, I have decided that my participation in the presidential elections could really be a step towards the much needed transformation of our country. In spite of the attempts of bureaucrats to compromise me and use me for their own purposes, despite the attacks of some of my liberal friends, and contrary to the speculations of amateur political scientists on their couches, my nomination can and should be useful both for the opposition and for society as a whole. In the near future, obviously, I will have to explain my position many times, so I want to immediately present my main arguments. What is to be done? This election is not among our best. The main candidate’s competition is composed of those who have long been eyesores, unable or unwilling to change anything. And it appears likely that those who desire changes and are perhaps even capable of accomplishing them, will not be allowed to take part. These are not the elections we imagine in our hopes for the future. But only we, the citizens of Russia, can fix the situation. Each of us can and must declare our position: our disagreement with the authorities in power, who now want a quarter-century free from the threat of removal from office; our disagreement with the collapsing education and health care systems; our disagreement with monstrous corruption and propaganda that have permeated the entire society, from rural schools to the Kremlin; our disagreement with the ubiquitous dominance of the siloviki; our disagreement with war, with isolationism. We, citizens of Russia, must use any and every opportunity for this conversation – open and robust exchanges in the home and the workplace, discussions on social media, rallies and elections at all levels. Societal change will not happen without a majority recognizing their necessity. And yes, I repeat, we should use these elections both for a public reckoning of the shortcomings of our government and for improving the skills of our opposition. We should not ignore elections as an institution, as the main instrument of public representation - the foundation of true democracy, even if over the past decades this instrument has never been correctly put to use. Truly free elections are not only about honest voting, but about free and equal access to participation and political activism, accurate vote counting, and results that are recognized and accepted by all of society. The March elections cannot meet these requirements. They have failed them from the get-go. But should we ignore them, boycott them? No. We must prepare to participate in them, collect signatures, demand registration, vote and thus change them by our participation. This is exactly how the most vibrant and consistent representatives of the opposition already operate. In order to win a marathon, you need to both train and take part in the race, and also demand fair refereeing. Moscow recently held municipal elections. In some areas, the opposition significantly pushed back again the governing party, in some areas it won outright. Very likely, if turnout had been higher, the opposition’s results would be even stronger. All the leaders of the opposition called upon Muscovites to come out to the polls, in spite of the complete information blockade by the authorities. Did they, or rather did we, Muscovites, expect that these elections would be fair? No! But we hoped to make them fair, whether by standing for office or simply by turning out. Some will say that presidential elections are set up differently. That when the results are predetermined, the government is, in fact, interested in raising turnout to create the appearance of legitimacy. I ask you – what difference does it make what the government wants? What matters is what we, the people, want. It is precisely in contrast to the powers that be that we must be consistent in our convictions and actions. Elections are the most important institution of democracy, and we should use any political and societal occasion to discuss the situation in which our country finds itself and voice our objections. Is a boycott the correct way of demonstrating our disagreement? Should we refuse to participate in the elections if prominent opposition candidates, especially, Alexey Navalny, are denied the ability to run? To my mind, no. Non-participation in the elections, in other words the silence of the dissatisfied, gets mixed up with the indifferent reticence of the lazy. It does not allow us, and society as a whole, to understand the real number of dissenters among us who desire change and progress. Having abandoned a legal, safe, and tremendously meaningful manifestation of our will such as participation in elections, however imperfect they are, we leave ourselves no way out except for confrontation in the streets, which, of course, should be a means of political struggle reserved only for the most extreme and exceptional circumstances. Recent history knows many cases when elections and plebiscites, seemingly manipulated by authoritarian regimes, turned into occasions and tools of genuine democratic transformations. This always happened when the opposition participated in elections, and never - with its silent self-exclusion. During the even more dramatic days of October 1993, a legal means for "active boycott" of the elections came about in Russia, and a presidential decree was adopted to introduce the option to select "Against All" (None Of The Above) in elections at all levels in Russia. Casting a vote for “Against All” is a legal and absolutely peaceful strategy for expressing civil discontent with the election procedure, composition of the candidate pool, the irremovability of the ruling party. Many years have passed since the government, treating election law in accordance with its tactical needs, as if it were a harness and we were the horses, deprived us of this tool. With my participation in the March presidential election, I want to bring it back. “Ksenia Sobchak” represents the “Against All” option on your ballot Are you against the fact that for many years only Zyuganov, Yavlinsky, Putin and their faceless understudies and deputies are on the list? Do you want to show your active position, but your candidate is not allowed to enter the race? Do you not have your own candidate? Choose Sobchak. You are not electing her to the presidency. You simply get a legal and peaceful opportunity to communicate "Enough! I’ve had it! " How can it be done? Elections are not just about voting. They are about real political debate, a legitimate right of access to political media, totally usurped the rest of the time by the authorities and their minions. An election campaign is not the only way to tell people who do not subscribe to the Dozh’d (Rain) TV channel or use YouTube about the corruption and ineffectiveness of today's political leadership, but it is a very important one. If such a method is available to us, we must use it. I enter the race not as a candidate, but as a surrogate for all those who cannot become a candidate. I am ready to voice the many complaints about the existing system, stemming from all parts of the political spectrum. I am ready to broadcast messages from both the left and the right, because the problem of corruption, the problem of the governing elites not being answerable and not being removable is larger than our ideological differences. Today it is impossible to properly discuss potential solutions to our problems within the framework of elections, because not all political forces compete on equal terms. This means we must speak more actively and stridently about the problems themselves. Today it is necessary for us to put aside our differences and focus on our commonalities, and to clarify that political competition is normal. That voters in the regions used to elect their governors directly from a list of known candidates. That the authorities should serve you, and not enrich themselves at your expense. Elections are an instrument of political enlightenment that will undoubtedly bear fruit. Maybe not this March. But much faster than our opponents think. I invite all political forces ready to use my nomination as a tribune, to state their objections to the current situation and the authorities through the framework of my campaign, because it is not a campaign for Sobchak, but it is a campaign against the way our political and social life is organized today. The Sobchak campaign is not just political activism for its own sake "Against All" , it is, I hope, a huge effort explaining why we are "Against All". Why me? Unlike the usual list of candidates who have to have it explained to them why they are worthy of being presidents of the Russian Federation, my task is simple - I must explain why I suit the role of the candidate "Against All". I am beyond rigid ideological frameworks. I do not belong to specific parties, am not bound by party or group discipline.
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