the 2012 presidential election against Vladimir Putin as an independent candidate, In March 2012 presidential polling, Prokhorov gained 7.94% of the vote, and he promised to create a new party. On his official website he invited its supporters to take part in the selection of names for the party that he was planning to organize. Among the proposal names were the "New Russia" Party, Democratic Party of Russia, and Free Russia Party. Finally, in June 2012, Prokhorov announced that the new party would carry the name "Civic Platform" Party. At the time of the party's founding, a new party reform law had been introduced in response to mass protests across Russia during 2011 and 2012 against alleged mass electoral fraud in the 2011 legislative election, and this law allowed new parties other than the existing 7 officially registered ones to be formed. Most of the new parties that were created lacked recognizable national leaders, regional cadres or material resources, but the Civic Platform was an exception as it was headed by the billionaire presidential candidate Prokhorov. 2012–2014 The party started off with a handful of elected representatives. Sergey Andreyev was elected the 4th Mayor of Tolyatti as the only representative from the party in the regional high office. Another known political figure was Evgeny Urlashov, Mayor of Yaroslavl from 1 April 2012 until July 2013, when he was arrested by Investigative Committee of Russia and accused of corruption charges. This was shortly before the regional legislature election, which was in September. He maintained that he was being targeted for his anti-establishment views and that the charges were politically motivated. Urshalov had won the mayoral election with 70% of the vote in April 2012 in a political upset, overwhelmingly defeating Kremlin-backed Yakov Yakushev. After his arrest, Urlashov stated in a TV interview: "I had been warned that they would get me out of the picture by any means possible", and said that his accuser was a prominent member of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party. Urlashov had previously left United Russia in 2011 after complaining about the party's high-handed tactics. Analysists asserted that Urlashov's arrest was part of a Kremlin tactic of using anti-corruption charges to eliminate opposition figures. Prokhorov said after the arrest that "the demonstration seizure of the elected leader of the city is a blow to the civil liberties of every Russian citizen". In the following Yaroslavl regional elections