If members of the Russian ruling tandem (also United Russia leaders) began to speak almost in a Communist Party language on the eve of the election, this means that United Russia’s chances to win are far from ideal.
Perhaps never since the 1996 presidential elections have Russian Federation leaders (now, at least formally, a tandem) have displayed such a hectic pre-election activity. The closer December 4, the State Duma elections day, is, the more one is dazzled by the kaleidoscope of daily meetings with various groups of voters all over the huge country – from the Kremlin to the far-flung nooks and corners. Moreover, most of these meetings are accompanied with not only a lavish dishing-out of pre-election promises but also with equally generous instructions to raise wages, pensions, social benefits, etc. Luckily, the oil- and gas-padded “paunch” so far allows to do so…
You do not even need to be familiar with the true reality of Russia’s boundless expanses outside Moscow and St. Petersburg – suffice it to see these eye-catching signs to arrive at a reasonable conclusion that there must be something wrong with the rating of what United Russia members call “party of power.” For why on earth have both of its leaders almost abandoned their routine duties and cozy Moscow office rooms and are busy canvassing voters and dishing out money much in the spirit of Yeltsin in the spring of 1996? United Russia had not shown such an activity on the eve of the previous parliamentary elections.
And if you take into account the official (!) results of sociological surveys, you can draw an even more reasonable conclusion: there is not even a shimmering hope for United Russia to win 66 or 68 percent of votes, as it did in the previous parliamentary elections. What is more, the speeches of even the most boastful members of this party do not show at least a hint at winning a constitutional majority at the newly convened State Duma. A constitutional majority (2/3 of the votes) is a wild dream – they would content themselves with what they increasing call “stable majority.”
Indeed, it is difficult for many Ukrainians even to imagine, unless they have been to Russia in the past few years, what it means when corruption is not just a mass-scale phenomenon at al levels of the Russian government but an integral part of the daily routine functioning of all the links. From the smallest cogs of the governmental machine – social workers, community-support policemen, nurses, house maintenance inspectors, and schoolteachers – to the highest echelon of powers – the solution of almost every problem for an ordinary Russian is impossible without an “encouragement” in the envelope. It is the absolute 10-year “achievement” and “merit” of the United Russia party and its two leaders who have decided now to change places.
The never-ending banditry and terrorism in the North Caucasus, the growing manmade disasters and plane crashes, fires in dilapidated buildings and military storehouses should also be blamed on the managerial personnel placed in office by the United Russia party. Finally, the constant growth of public utility rates, including household heating and gas charges – in a country that is the world’s largest producer of oil and gas! This is the “achievement” of United Russia, for which my compatriots almost daily address this party a “good” word.
So there really are the reasons why both “national leaders” of this party should worry. Obviously, these worries are on the rise in spite of all attempts to hide this – otherwise, why should they not only be splurging around but also overshadowing (in words) the Communists, their main political opponents? This very thing happened at a meeting with war veterans and old-age pensioners last Thursday. Interestingly, the meeting was conducted by both tandem members, which apparently shows its paramount importance for the two of them as well as for their party, as far as the December 4 voting is concerned. For example, President (as yet) Dmitry Medvedev recalled the “unity of Soviet peoples,” adding that this “model worked.” He did not explain, though, why and through whose fault this unity vanished into thin air together with the united country – the Soviet Union. In all probability, the vibes in the group of the war veterans that surrounded the tandem were not at all suitable for the two to dwell into this dangerous subject.
Yet the other tandem member, Premier (also as yet) Vladimir Putin, ventured to go further and say the words which really stunned those who watched this program on Russian state-run television’s two main channels. It might seem that it was the Communist leader Gennady Ziuganov, not Putin, who was saying this to the veterans. You can judge for yourselves, dear readers. Putin mouthed the following: in the early 1990s, the actions of irresponsible politicians resulted first in the collapse of a great country and then (attention!) in the “unprecedented plundering” of the Russian economy. Astonishing indeed!
Then why should the tandem not go further – by its own logic – and directly name the main “irresponsible politician” who first put the USSR and Russia at loggerheads, then signed documents on disbanding the Union, and then, holding the topmost office in a new Russia, issued instructions that led to the “unprecedented plundering” of the Russian economy? In other words, how can one possibly unveil a monument to Boris Yeltsin in former Sverdlovsk, name the new Presidential Library after him, and, at the same time, revile him almost as a public enemy – of course, doing it cunningly, without naming him – before a war veterans’ audience? You, gentlemen, had better choose just one thing – otherwise, it all looks like a split personality!
Further on, who followed those instructions of “unprecedented plundering” of the Russian economy? Not Anatoly Chubais whom the Russian grassroots dubbed “the main grab-it-all privatizer” but who still continues to hold top offices in a string of state-run corporations? How come you two are keeping such a terrible “plunderer” in such offices? All you have to do is lift a finger – and Chubais will go. But you are not doing this. Instead, you are bandying around verbal escapades in public, you are again reviling a person without naming him, and clearly bending over backwards to pander to the tastes of electoral audiences. But you are making a laughingstock of yourselves in view of the entire world!
Yes, it is clearly not a comfortable life that made the United Russia leaders resort to this world juggling. So is this party in for a serious disappointment in the elections? Can these elections produce a really interesting result for the Russian people?
Oleg Cherkovets is a Moscow-based Doctor of Sciences (Economics)
