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| Russian Political System |
During the presidency of Vladimir Putin all reforms of political system were justified by the need to achieve “stability” and strengthen the “vertical of power”. The real objective, as far as we can judge, was to take control of politics in the country.
In September, 2009 President Medvedev publicly put forward a new task – to start modernization in Russia. Meanwhile, modernization of any political system is impossible without ensuring regular replacement of a ruling top of a state by means of elections which should be held in compliance with international election standards. Evasion of this precondition (for example, through imitation of elections) makes the modernization unrealizable, but effectively provides retention of power in hands of an irremovable leader.
Russian political system was purposely built and now functions so as to ensure the absence of an effective non-systemic opposition. Marginalized groups which pretentiously call themselves “the non-systemic opposition” and parliamentary supposedly oppositional parties do not constitute a menace to the government; in fact they are the part of the system (regardless of their will). Independent candidates are always faced in their way with unlawful obstacles put by election commissions, whereas the systemic opposition is afraid to lose its status even more than to lose it’s not numerous voters. However, even if an independent candidate will miraculously win an election and leave behind a candidate of the ruling party, then his fate will be predetermined anyway – he will have to join the ruling party, though even in this case he will have little chance to work at ease until the end of his term of office. Here are just some of the most notorious examples.
March 13, 2005 a businessman Alexander Donskoi defeated a United Russia's candidate and won the city mayor elections in Archangelsk with 38.65 per cent of votes. November 28, 2006 the prosecutor’s office declared that during an inspection carried out by police at the request of a citizen, it was found that in 2004 Mr. Donskoi received a diploma of higher education supposedly without completing a course in an institution of higher education. December 5, 2006 the Prosecutor of the Archangelsk region had initiated a criminal case against Mr. Donskoi under section 3 of article 327 of the Criminal Code of Russia (“Using fake documents deliberately”). December 19, 2006 state investigators raided the City Hall and seized documents, seals, letterheads and computer hard drives. January 17, 2007 a personal flat of the Mayor was searched. July 18, 2007 Mayor was arrested and placed in an investigative isolation ward. In January 2008 he was found guilty and sentenced to a fine of approximately 3000 dollars and was put on probation for one year. As a result, he had to resign.
May 25, 2008 Larisa Bazanova with support of Alexander Donskoi got 37.55 per cent of votes and won early elections of the Mayor of Archangelsk. A candidate of United Russia received 37.41 percent of votes and lost elections. But 3 days later the election commission of the city took a decision to recount ballots supposedly because of numerous violations. After recounting of votes a candidate of the ruling party won elections with majority of 154 votes.
March 12, 2006 a businessman Alexander Kasyanov with support of the Communist Party won mayoral election in Orel with 29 per cent of votes. After that he declared that he didn’t conclude any agreements with communists, and joined United Russia in 2007. May 22, 2008 Mayor was arrested on charges of having committed tax evasion on 7 million dollars, and on July 8, 2009 he was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months of imprisonment.
May 20, 2007 a member of the Communist Party Roman Grebennikov won mayoral election in Volgograd. He received 32.47 per cent of votes. In January 2008 - April 2010 the prosecutor’s office had made 262 representations and 122 protests against the administration of the city, 15 employees of the City Hall were brought to administrative responsibility, some people were involved in criminal cases on corruption. In April, 2008 Mayor joined United Russia, but it did not help him. In July, 2010 Prime Minister Vladimir Putin personally criticized Mayor’s activities in Volgograd. Prosecutor’s office immediately had found “numerous violations of businessmen’ rights” and it was declared that a criminal prosecution against officials of Volgograd City Administration is possible. However, Mayor is still in large now (as of November 2, 2010).
Businessman Eduard Kachanovsky, who was excluded from the United Russia because of unauthorized nomination of his candidacy for the post of the Mayor of Smolensk, won election on March 1, 2009 with 28.5 per cent of votes. Immediately he was admitted into the ruling party back. February 26, 2010 Mayor was detained for commission of the crime (taking bribes), and June 1, 2010 a court overturned results of mayoral elections because Mr. Kachanovsky supposedly “combined his business with civil service”. At the same time the Charter of the City was amended and elections of Mayor of Smolensk were abolished in principle.
March 15, 2009 independent candidate Sergey Subbotin won mayoral elections in Murmansk with more than 60 percent of votes. During a visit to Murmansk in April, 2010 Prime Minister Putin had criticized city officials for problems of housing and communal services, and July 3, 2010 the Municipal Assembly voted for resignation of Mayor because of “unsatisfactory work”.
March 14, 2010 a candidate of the Communist Party Viktor Kondrashov won mayoral election in Irkutsk (62.32 per cent of votes). In June United Russia declared that Mayor will join it, and Kondrashov himself confirmed that he will receive a membership card after 6 months in the ranks of the United Russia’s supporters. What awaits him in the future?
Can political system of a country where regularly happen such things be considered as normal?
Russian Presidential Human Rights Council Chief Ella Pamfilova who had resigned on 30 July, 2010 spoke quite clearly about it: " The most important thing is that we failed to organize an effective public control over elections in order to make them truly free, to ensure absence of administrative resource, to make people understand the significance of elections and to know whom do they vote for and why… Whether intentionally or not, everything hinges on the need to solve political issues, because it’s already impossible to cardinally change the situation with human rights and democratic liberties, especially political rights, within the current political system".
Meanwhile, the current political system seemed to be so stable, that it did not dispose the government to reforming. Nevertheless, President Medvedev announced the modernization. Thereby he put himself in a difficult position because he can find no section of the population which he should rely on while solving the problems of modernization. Those levels of the population which are traditional mainstay for power live by the principle «the less changes the better». They agree with stability but not ready for modernization, and insistent exhortations of the President arouse no enthusiasm among them. Of course, President Medvedev could mobilize even existing elite, but in order to do it he must find a worthy opponent (or create him) in order to unite forces in struggle with such an opponent.
“The current elite is naturally puppet, - Mikhail Gorbachev said. – No one will fulfill the modernization with such elite. Everything will be drown in empty talks, or even plundered. Such are the deplorable results of recruitment cadres for the elite if one adheres to the principle of association of people from the same area, or the principle of nearness at a work or at business... I’ll fail to create new party. They’ll don’t allow. Once I talked with our main “party builder”, he said: «Well, why do you need waste of energy? We’ll not register it all the same». And I believe him that they won’t".
But who is this main “party builder” which Gorbachev had in mind?
Here is the quote from the transcript of the recent interview of Konstantin Remchukov, the Chief Editor of the Independent Newspaper, with the Echo of Moscow radio station. He gave the answer to this question.
REMCHUKOV - … I still consider myself a wounded man who is not allowed by the law to vote and elect mayor [of Moscow]… The power tried to get away with excuses that we should be disabled to elect because we supposedly don’t know much about those matters, candidates may betray our confidence or graft us. Gangsters are bursting to the power…
[KSENIA] LARINA – We must remember that it was done for security purposes in its time.
REMCHUKOV – They decided just to catch at the excuse. But on whole the argumentation stings me to the quick, because it so happens that in our country I feel myself disfranchised on the ground that I don’t know much about people.
LARINA – …interview of [the First Deputy Head of the President’s Administration Vladislav] Surkov with the Web-portal «Vzglyad». Did you read it?
REMCHUKOV – Yes, I did.
LARINA – … He enumerates there “crazy ideas” of [the former Mayor of Moscow] Luzhkov, and among them are destruction of the Rechnik Neighborhood and return to governors’ elections. He enumerates all these things together. This interview is very strange; of course, every normal person should ask: who is this guy? Who is the First Deputy Head of the Administration of the President? Can you explain us what is the source of his power?
REMCHUKOV – Don’t you know?
LARINA – I want you to explain this. I don’t understand one thing: I' have read today administrative duty of the Head of the Administration. I found nothing about what he says; it’s not part of his duties.
REMCHUKOV – I consider Surkov an architect of the current political system in Russia and political technologist number one in the country during the last ten years. In fact he created the configuration of Kremlin’s control over media. It was hard to expect such a discipline from the federal TV channels yet in 2001-2002. It seemed unreal that this freedom could be quelled. He had done it. However, he did not injure Putin in the eyes of the public. He keeps Putin’s approval rating not lower than 70 per cent during the last 11 years, and this is unprecedented and, probably, logical, because asymmetrically informed people can have a distorted view of one or another politician. Surkov formatted the parliament in accordance with his own will and understanding.
LARINA – Who delegated authority to this man to take such crucial decisions?
REMCHUKOV – President’s Administration. I guess it was the President.
LARINA – The President?
REMCHUKOV - Yes. … I suppose that [Ramzan] Kadyrov in Chechnya is his [Surkov’s] protégé in a large measure, because the current model of relationship between Chechnya and the federal center was proposed also by Vladislav Surkov.
LARINA – In this case what do they do, I mean the President and the Prime Minister, if everything has already been done by Surkov? The space where we live was created by Surkov.
REMCHUKOV – Leaders have a lot of things to do, they receive credentials.
LARINA – They take part in summits and carry on negotiations.
REMCHUKOV – Present somebody with decorations…
LARINA – And meet with musicians...
REMCHUKOV – And the political technology component, of course, belongs to Surkov.
LARINA – Look, there’s still some kind of schizophrenia in all this. The position is the First Deputy Head of the President’s Administration only. … In other words, officially he has not a post of Suslov [Member of the Politburo and the Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee]. But in fact he carries out these functions. It seems to me that majority of people, if we talk about the whole country, is even unlikely to guess about the real power of this man. If they know that he exists at all.
REMCHUKOV – So what? People know nothing about many things…
LARINA – What is the Administration of the President?
REMCHUKOV – This isn’t a constitutional body, it has no legitimacy. But in fact it’s the most powerful state body in the country. It’s the most effective state body, the most ruthless in achieving aims and it cannot tolerate objections at any level. It’s the state body under the President, the instrument of achieving the will of the President who is the main man in the country.
LARINA – Do they dictate their will on him, don't they?
REMCHUKOV – It’s hard question. I don’t want to idealize our Presidents, but it seems to me that Putin and Medvedev are not such people who allow manipulating them. Both of them want their will to be executed. But it’s difficult to understand the extent of independence of their opinion from the influence of the Administration.
LARINA – So, when we demonize this figure, I mean Surkov, we are not far from the truth.
REMCHUKOV – Probably, yes.
In view of the above-stated, we can confidently assume that there is the great task of modernization of political system, and this task is facing Mr. Surkov, who had created this system. Solving this problem is inconceivable without participation of responsible representatives of the civil society who had not already been discredited in Russian people’s opinion (and in western public's eyes too). It is out of the question to involve servile flatterers and self-appointed experts who had already proved their incompetence repeatedly. It's high time for such people to fall into contempt among officials of the President's Administration. The matter is that the Administration has to cooperate with real experts who allow themselves a constructive criticism because without them the task of modernization will have little chance of success. Such professionals could agree to help the power, because the modernization fully accords with their interests. Of course, they will do it if the modernization is not a bluff before our western partners, otherwise the modernization will fail and the western partners will be very disappointed.
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