Dmitry Shusharin. New opposition: export retro version

New opposition: export retro version
Dmitry Shusharin

Publication date: April 4, 2000

The formation of a new opposition, calling itself democratic and opposing the executive branch and even the entire system of power in the country, began at the first meeting of the State Duma of the new convocation. The first stage of formation ended live on the Voice of the People program, when Yevgeny Savostyanov withdrew his candidacy in favor of Grigory Yavlinsky.

I can’t help but boast - I predicted the script for the program in the morning when I first heard its announcement on NTV. Information technology, which is a vital part of the democratic political process, has crystallized and presented (this concept is not quite synonymous with the Russian word “present”, since it implies a more active and even aggressive proposal, and not just a demonstration) the result of the interaction of a variety of forces in modern Russia. Grigory Yavlinsky, who completely lost the Duma elections to the Union of Right Forces, almost took revenge.

Although it is more likely that politicians who call themselves right-wing showed weakness and partially succumbed to the information pressure. The first concession was made when they left the meeting of the Duma, which, in their opinion, was an analogue of the 1989 Congress of People's Deputies, and not a parliament. Even the “aggressively obedient majority” remembered. And then everything went downhill - no statements in support of Putin helped.

The so-called democrats did not recognize themselves as part of the government. At the Congress of People's Deputies, there really was only one choice: to merge with the Secretary General or not to merge. In parliaments everything is different. But this “other” requires a different qualification and a different view of the country, the world and oneself. But the intelligentsia remained the intelligentsia.

From January to March, the country witnessed a session of political spiritualism. Completely out of nowhere it suddenly became clear that the acting. The president personifies the very power that all the best and purest people of Russia must resist. Moreover, to resist in a way known only in Russian political culture - to refuse participation in power, taking advantage of involvement in it.

This method guarantees political/non-political stability, as we see in the example of Yavlinsky. His less than six percent is not a defeat. Much more important is the almost full twenty in Moscow, which should be renamed Alma-Ata. In essence, he is ideally suited to the role of leader of all who consider any manifestation of will - human and state - evil; everyone who is incapable of self-identification without confronting the authorities.

Yes, Sergei Kiriyenko partially rehabilitated himself - but only himself, and not the so-called rightists - by calling Yavlinsky on the same NTV on election night “Zhirinovsky for the intelligentsia.” But it was too late. Kiriyenko's future remains unclear, while Yavlinsky's future appears bright.

There is, however, here, if not an excuse, then an explanation. Obviously, Putin is a right-wing liberal. (NTV assured the country of the opposite - Kiselyov exclaimed in horror: what have they come to, liberal St. Petersburg voted for Putin, no, just imagine! Kiriyenko even became amused - it’s simply ridiculous to answer this.) And right-wing liberalism has one peculiarity - it is less oriented towards the elite than any leftist teachings, movements and political technologies. More precisely, he leaves the elite a place that it can occupy only by constantly confirming its status.

That is, Putin, with his non-elite election campaign, himself contributed to the consolidation of a certain part of society around the figure of Yavlinsky, who received - unlike the democrats of the 1989 model - informational (obvious) and other (which is not customary to talk about out loud) support.

Why support him? After all, it is obvious that he has a future within the country, but this future, as was said, is not entirely political. But there is another factor - external.

It is not only the obscene Chiesa who vilifies Russia. Collectives in the West sign Bertolucci, Grasse and Eco. The image of the military-police regime, the terrible Putin, and so on and so forth is simply beneficial to those who want to occupy the same niche that was occupied ten years ago by the democrats on duty - former dissidents and not quite then former party workers.

They need to be loved. And if the authorities don’t love them, then they want to be loved over the hill. And some people just need to move their business outside the country. So Yavlinsky receives information and other support.

And they don’t care about Yavlinsky’s electorate - whether it is growing or not. In general, together with Yavlinsky, they don’t care about anything except their own export liquidity. Therefore, there is no point in talking about the defeat of the retro opposition. They got theirs.

True, at the expense of others. Yavlinsky - primarily at the expense of his own party. He hasn’t had anything to do with Yabloko for a long time, because professional politicians gathered there. But Grigory Alekseevich deliberately avoids any actions that could be assessed from a professional point of view.

Therefore, unlike his own party, he is invulnerable. His post-election statement about his readiness to join a new democratic coalition indicates that he understands this very well. Another thing is that he has so far ruined all the coalitions, and in his language “to enter” means “to lead.”