two political forces that are true opposition parties, and they were the only two parties out of the 14 that competed in the 2016 legislative election that could be considered as such. When in 2012 new laws were introduced which allowed the formation of new parties, several new opposition parties sprang up, but RPR-PARNAS held an advantage over these other parties as it was led by several long-standing leaders of anti-Putin opposition such as Nemtsov and Kasyanov. This gave the party particular prominence. Yabloko and PARNAS are generally more politicized than the 'systemic opposition', leading campaigns against electoral fraud and corruption while voicing support for civil rights. Both frequently demand the release of political prisoners, media freedoms, and changes in political regulations, and have advocated direct elections of mayors and opposed oppressive legislation such as laws and restrictions on public meetings. Amongst all parties, Yabloko and PARNAS have had the highest percentage of ballot-access denials by authorities, despite their overall limited number of attempts to register candidates. Leaders Co-chairs Mikhail Kasyanov (2012–present) Vladimir Ryzhkov (2006–2014) Boris Nemtsov (2012 – until his assassination on 27 February 2015) Federal Political Council of RPR-PARNAS Bureau: Mikhail Kasyanov Boris Nemtsov (until his assassination on 27 February 2015) Ilya Yashin (until 16 December 2016) Valentina Melnikova (former co-chair of the party) Sergey Aleksashenko Konstantin Merzlikin Vadim Prokhorov Alexander Berstenev Others: Igor Stasovskiy Vladimir Vladimirovich Kara-Murza (until 16 December 2016) Vyacheslav Maltsev (until 2017) Electoral results Legislative elections See also The Other Russia Yabloko References External links St Petersburg branch of RPR-PARNAS The website of Vladimir Ryzhkov The 2011 website of the Republican Party (Internet Archive) About the party Partinform Articles Russia's Republican Party Legal Again Two Russian parties merge in push against Putin 1990 establishments in Russia 1990 establishments in the Soviet Union Anti-communist parties Liberal parties in Russia Pro-European political parties in Russia Political parties established in 1990