Grigory Yavlinsky 2000 presidential campaign

Before the emergence of Putin, Yavlinsky and Zyuganov been regarded as the only two prospective candidates to be supported by a strong constituency and a national party.

[1] However, Yavlinsky's appeal was limited, as his base of support overwhelmingly came from intellectuals and those in the upper middle class.

[1] Additionally, his limited experience in government was seen by analysts as a potential hindrance to his prospects, as it was believed that Russian voters wanted to vote for an individual who could "get things done", rather than someone who simply appealed to them on an ideological basis.

[4] During the autumn of 1999, Yavlinsky had wavered in his stance on the Chechen War and performed very poorly in heavily-watched televised debates.

I will fight the man under whose half year in power the dirtiest and most repulsive campaign tactics in the history of Russia have been used.

It is under Putin that an anti-terrorist operation gave way to total war with huge numbers of victims.

[8]Yavlinsky had hired campaign experts who masterminded an attempt to drastically overhaul his image using television advertisements.

[1] Independent candidate Yevgeny Savostyanov, who had been polling under 1% and had garnered very little attention, held a press conference in which he announced his withdrawal from the race, throwing his support behind Yavlinsky's candidacy (and urging Konstantin Titov to do the same).

[5] In a last-ditch effort during the final days of the campaign, Yavlinsky declared his willingness to establish a vast coalition of liberal movements in cooperation with figures such as Yegor Gaidar and Anatoly Chubais.

[5] After the election, Yavlinsky declared that his campaign had, "achieved what we wanted: we have demonstrated that there are millions of people behind us who support what we are talking about.

[11] Unlike other major political parties in Russia, Yavlinsky's Yabloko had consistently opposed military actions in Chechnya.

[13] Renown human rights activist Sergei Kovalev endorsed Yavlinsky because of his stance against the war.