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SECTION SPONSORED BY ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA, RUSSIA
www.interfax.com International Information Group DISTRIBUTED WITH THE DAILY TELEGRAPH TUESDAY_SEPTEMBER 29_2009 Opinion
AN EXTRA MILE FOR MEDVEDEV?
the main problem impeding development of a
multi-party system in Russia. Abused fi rst by a
handful of powerful businessmen and, later, by
state interference and cumbersome registration
procedures, Russia’s party political system has
DMITRY BABICH
ic than what we had in the Nineties. Why? Because tre for Political Technologies.“The new system fa- failed to become a real asset to the population –
RUSSIAPROFILE.ORG this system is more stable and provides better pro- cilitated removal of leaders who had become an something worth fi ghting or working for.
tection for the population’s interests.” impediment to development. In the Pskov region, “People lack initiative, they don’t use their own
In the last few weeks, President Medvedev has Many sociologists note that Russians tend to view the new 34-year-old governor, Andrei Turchak, political rights,” Medvedev complained. In his let-
made intriguing comments on the most intrigu- their political system pragmatically. Instead of de- who has led big companies since his 20s, is seen as ter, Medvedev said that, this year, the country
ing puzzle of recent Russian politics – how far will fending abstract principles of freedom and plu- an organisational genius. But there are other, more started “moving to the creation of a new political
he go in democratising society? Reassuring state- ralism, they prefer to judge by effects on the local negative examples – it is difficult to generalise.” system” and cited simplifi ed procedures for party
ments started in early September, with the publi- economy and security. If results are good, Russians However, many observers don’t see how, with this registration as an example. However, the much-
cation of his letter “Russia, Forward!”, which reconcile themselves to authoritarianism and cer- method of appointing governors, Medvedev can touted reduction of the “membership minimum”
promised a bigger role for Russia’s fl edgling po- tain undemocratic methods. Medvedev’s praise of keep his promise of making the political system from 50,000 to 45,000 has failed to produce a sense
litical parties, more openness to international the current system for its pragmatic achievements “open, fl exible and internally sophisticated”. of revitalisation. Some analysts think simply giv-
scrutiny and “a modern, effective justice system”. refl ects the prevailing attitude in the country. “Sooner or later we shall return to a system of di- ing more power to the parties may lead to an op-
The vigour in these promises led observers to think Governors in Russia were elected by direct popu- rect elections. There is simply no other way for- posite result.
he was not happy with the status quo, fuelling lar vote until 2004, when Putin proposed choos- ward,” said Igor Bunin, general director of the “The problem is that powerful state officials may
speculation about a rift between Medvedev and ing them by presidential suggestion and then a se- Centre for Political Technologies. use the increased role of parties to increase their
Prime Minister Putin. However, Medvedev insist- cret vote in the regional legislature. The president’s Direct and fair elections are also necessary to es- own power,” commented Oleg Smolin, a member
ed that “his” democratisation will be different special powers, such as the right to remove a gov- tablish a system where “parliamentary parties pe- of the opposition Communist faction in the State
from the reforms of the early Ninieties, and avoid- ernor without approval of the local legislature, riodically replace each other at the wheel of power”. Duma.“Since the onl y way of getting to a local leg-
ed direct criticism of Putin’s eight-year presiden- were justifi ed by the need to protect national unity This presidential idea included the promise to cre- islature is via political parties, they may use party
tial tenure. This line was continued in a CNN in- in view of increasing terrorist threats. Under Med- ate a situation where “parties and their coalitions discipline to control deputies, making them toe
terview, 10 days after the letter’s publication. vedev, who came to power in 2008, the system was will form the federal and regional bodies of exec- the party line during votes. In my opinion, the main
In the interview, Medvedev gave an indirect clue slightly modernised: gubernatorial candidates are utive power (and not vice versa)”. “And not vice responsibility of a deputy is before voters, not a
to his understanding of democracy. Answering a fi rst suggested for presidential approval by the versa”, even in parentheses, is important: a lot of party structure. People for whom democracy is
question about Russia’s alleged regression on strongest party in the local legislature. There are political parties are viewed as “projects” of pow- not a value may turn even such a bright idea into
democratic reforms, Medvedev said: “I think the mixed views on these innovations. erful state officials, who use these “institutions of a parody.”
-
current political system, party system and system “The situation varies between regions,” said Alex- civil society” for their own purposes.
of putting governors in office are more democrat- ey Makarkin, deputy general director of the Cen- In his CNN interview, Medvedev touched upon Dmitry Babich is RIA Novosti commentator.
SHIPS, CHIPS AND AUTOMOBILES
GRAHAM STACK
eration with us," Dvorkovich said at the Reuters On September 18 the media reported that Rus- Do these deals mark an economic, European di-
RUSSIAPROFILE.ORG Russia Investment Summit. Following bank- sia’s largest telecommunications holding AFK mension to the so-called reset? On Friday Putin
ruptcy, General Motors is now owned by the US Sistema is negotiating to purchase a share in In- called on Obama to follow up on the cancella-
Recently, Germany has been opening its doors Treasury. fi neon, the largest German microchip producer. tion of the missile shield plans by supporting
to Kremlin–linked companies looking for tech- According to Dvorkovich, powerful anti-Rus- According to the Kommersant business daily, Russia’s bid to join the WTO – the longest bid in
nologies in automotive manufacturing, ship- sian interest groups were out to scupper the the deal currently under discussion is for Siste- the history of the organisation, with Russia
building, and microchip production. But while deal, accounting for General Motors’ down-to- ma to acquire 15 to 20pc of the company for being the largest economy to remain outside the
the current German election campaign entails the-wire hesitancy over going through with it. €1bn, with the purchase funded by the Russian WTO.
that any investors promising to save jobs are But President Barack Obama’s support for the Bank for Development (VEB) state corporation. The former German chancellor Gerhard
welcomed, this new openness could also point Russian bid tipped the scales, Dvorkovich In a smaller but similar deal, the former Russian Schroeder has stated openly that the United
to an economic, European dimension to the re- said. energy minister, Igor Yussufov, is set to acquire States has been blocking Russia’s WTO acces-
nowned “reset” in Russian-American rela- It is very what the Kremlin wants from the deals. Germany’s bankrupt Wadan shipyards, based sion for political reasons. Obama’s position on
tions. "If the import of technologies does not take in Wismar and Rostock. Russia’s WTO bid might show whether the reset
"It is a very good political signal,” Arkady Dvork- place, it will mean that (the deal) was just a It is widely believed that Yussufov is acting on can develop an economic dimension.
ovich, economic adviser to Prime Minister waste of time," Sberbank CEO German Gref behalf of Russian state-linked strategic inves- An American reset on Russia’s WTO bid will also
Vladimir Putin, said on September 16, referring told journalists on Friday. tors, including the state-owned gas giant have knock-on effects for Russian-European
to the deal that will see Russia’s state-owned Two other deals similar to the Opel rescue have Gazprom and the state-owned United Ship- ties, since the signing of a new Russian-EU part-
Sberbank and Canadian car components pro- been broached by the Russians during the sum- building Corporation. The fi nancially stricken nership agreement is largely dependent on Rus-
ducer Magna take a majority stake in Opel, the mer. Both involve opaque, Kremlin-linked Wadan shipyards possess unique ice-breaking sia’s achieving WTO membership.
-
European subsidiary of the bankrupt US car structures bailing out struggling German com- technologies that Russia needs to retool its naval
giant General Motors.“It means the US admin- panies which, despite their losses, have technol- shipyards in order to build transport vessels for Graham Stack is a business journalist and ana-
istration is ready for maximum economic coop- ogies the Russians want. energy projects in the Arctic. lyst.
The polls
Majorities around the world support govern- Russia should maintain its nuclear Most Russians do not see any need to change the
ments playing an active role in stimulating arsenal, ready to face foreign threats volume of the country’s nuclear arsenal in the
and regulating their national economy in re- coming years: 54pc believed it should stay the
Russians want a more active government sponse to the current recession, according to
VTSIOM ASKED WHETHER RUSSIANS CONSIDER IT
same (as opposed to 60pc in 2006). Fewer people
role in supporting the economy a new poll across 20 countries conducted for
NECESSARY TO CHANGE THE VOLUME OF THE COUN-
felt it necessary to increase the nuclear arsenal
81PC OF RUSSIANS AGREE WITH THE INCREASE IN BBC World Service.
TRY’S NUCLEAR ARSENAL, AND SOUGHT VIEWS ON
(14pc against 19pc) and, conversely, there was an
GOVERNMENT SPENDING TO STIMULATE THE ECONO- Russians are among the most supportive of in-
STRATEGIC NUCLEAR FORCES’ COMBAT READINESS.
increase in the number of respondents insisting
MY, ACCORDING TO BBC-SPONSORED OPINION POLL. creased national regulation of the economy, RUSSIA’S NUCLEAR ARSENAL: INCREASE OR DECREASE? on reduction (16pc against 11pc). Finally, 4pc fa-
increased government stimulus spending, and vored complete nuclear disarmament.
WHICH MEASURE OF ECONOMIC SUPPORT ON THE PART support for failing industries, with eight in The majority did not feel it necessary to change
OF THE GOVERNMENT DO YOU APPROVE OF? 10 favouring them. Along with Turkey, they are the volume of the nuclear arsenal in the long term
the second most critical of how the costs and (43pc). In relation to 2006, there was a decrease
benefi ts of the economic situation have been in the number of supporters of its growth (from
shared – with three in four expressing dissat- 19pc to 14pc): 18pc insisted on an increase. There
isfaction. was an increase in the number of people who ad-
Roughly eight-in-10 (81pc) favour increased vised against disarmament (from 3pc to 7pc).
stimulus spending by the Russian government Russians generally felt that, in the long term, the
and a similar 78pc favour such spending when government is in control of nuclear combat read-
targeted toward renewable energy. A very iness (52pc). 23pc of respondents thought the au-
large majority (78pc) support government as- thorities neglect the issue. Only 6pc were sure the
sistance for major industries and companies government gives it excessive attention.
in trouble, but only 44pc support the same as- The survey was conducted during the period of
SOURCE: WWW.BBC.CO.UK sistance for banks in trouble.
SOURCE: WWW.WCIOM.RU August 22-30, 2009.
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