Statement by Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Segezha, 20 September 2012 – A number of people whom I respect have approached me with a proposal that I advance my candidacy for the Russian Opposition Coordination Council, which will be elected on 21 October of the current year.

I am grateful to everyone who considered me worthy of participating in the new structure, but I have nevertheless rejected the idea of advancing my candidacy for the CC.

The main reason for my decision is that in my current situation I can not be useful for the resolution of those practical tasks that the CC is facing. I wish success to the organisers and to all the participants in the elections. I want to hope that the Coordination Council that is being created will, first, help promote the consolidation of civil society, and second, become a truly collegial body, one that will demonstrate an effective democratic alternative to today’s personalistic regime.

I see a most important role for the Coordination Committee to be the search for a format of continuous dialogue between opposition politicians and the actual protest aktiv – with “Bolotnaya Square” in the broad sense of this geographic name. I do not rule out the possibility that the Council will likewise succeed in finding forms of interaction with the Kremlin, so as to distinctly and exhaustively articulate the position of the “angry urbanites” to the existing power.

It is important to remember that the level of trust that “Bolotnaya Square” has in any politicians is very limited, which is why the Coordination Committee is taking on a great responsibility to reinforce this trust.

I wish you success, my friends!

Statement by Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Segezha, 20 September 2012 – A number of people whom I respect have approached me with a proposal that I advance my candidacy for the Russian Opposition Coordination Council, which will be elected on 21 October of the current year.

I am grateful to everyone who considered me worthy of participating in the new structure, but I have nevertheless rejected the idea of advancing my candidacy for the CC.

The main reason for my decision is that in my current situation I can not be useful for the resolution of those practical tasks that the CC is facing.
I wish success to the organisers and to all the participants in the elections. I want to hope that the Coordination Council that is being created will, first, help promote the consolidation of civil society, and second, become a truly collegial body, one that will demonstrate an effective democratic alternative to today’s personalistic regime.

I see a most important role for the Coordination Committee to be the search for a format of continuous dialogue between opposition politicians and the actual protest aktiv – with “Bolotnaya Square” in the broad sense of this geographic name. I do not rule out the possibility that the Council will likewise succeed in finding forms of interaction with the Kremlin, so as to distinctly and exhaustively articulate the position of the “angry urbanites” to the existing power.

It is important to remember that the level of trust that “Bolotnaya Square” has in any politicians is very limited, which is why the Coordination Committee is taking on a great responsibility to reinforce this trust.

I wish you success, my friends!