Evsey Weiner. "Motherland" is in danger

"Motherland" is in danger
Evsei Weiner

Publication date: January 15, 2004

. The Rodina block - many called it the main sensation of the last Duma elections - torn apart by internal contradictions, risks becoming a victim of an information war

The main evidence of the conflict within the bloc is the presence of two presidential candidates: the “official” Gerashchenko and the self-nominated Glazyev. The passage of a bloc into the Duma, to which at the beginning of autumn a rare political scientist dared to promise a result exceeding one and a half to two percent, is, of course, impressive. But, you see, just over eight percent of voters who supported Rogozin and Glazyev is not yet a reason to nominate two candidates for the presidential election.

“Motherland” is considered to be an invention of the Kremlin, created to take away votes from the Communists in the Duma elections. The decision to nominate Gerashchenko as a presidential candidate indirectly confirmed this version: the ex-Chairman of the Central Bank was an ideal candidate to ensure that the elections were ostensibly alternative without quarreling with the presidential administration. Putin received a rival with a young and influential political force behind him, and Gerashchenko, along with other applicants, set off in pursuit of the legitimate one and a half percent of the votes.

Supporters of Rodina, not wanting to put up with the obvious controllability of the bloc, explained this decision by “the reluctance to expose Glazyev (one of the possible favorites of the 2008 presidential race) to the fire of the Kremlin television artillery, in elections that still cannot be won . ” Glazyev’s self-nomination deprived such arguments of meaning.

Glazyev's decision cannot be called surprising. Having good positions in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and a guaranteed place on the list, he deliberately came into conflict with Zyuganov: Glazyev wanted to be first, and in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, in full accordance with the rule of democratic centralism, there cannot be two first. Zyuganov, as it seemed to many, including himself, before the elections to the State Duma, sat too securely in his chair to have the desire to give it up to anyone. Although even then there were a sufficient number of dissatisfied people in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation who believed that the “young economist” had a better chance of being liked by voters. Glazyev took a gamble, left the communists and decided to join the newly created bloc with vague prospects. There is no particular doubt that Rodina owes much of its success to Glazyev. One can argue about the popularity of Rogozin, Gerashchenko or Shpak, but without Glazyev “Motherland” simply does not exist.

Obviously, the stakes in the game were too high for Glazyev to wait four years for his time in the Duma as the leader of the faction. His decision to go to the polls is quite logical. The proposal for a coalition addressed to the communists is also not surprising: after the failure in December and exclusion from the presidential campaign, Zyuganov’s position in the party is no longer so strong, and Glazyev is obviously more promising as a presidential candidate than Kharitonov. In any case, even if Glazyev does not achieve official support from the leadership of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, he will be able to finish off the communists and lead one of the associations that will inevitably form on the ruins of the split Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Presidential elections are an ideal moment for this.

From this point of view, Glazyev’s move to Rodina can be viewed as a long-term project to seize power in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. If so, then Glazyev managed to outplay not only Zyuganov, but also the Kremlin, which provided the defector with a good platform for promotion.

But Glazyev’s decision means disaster for Rodina: an association that has neither a clear regional structure nor a clear ideology and entered the Duma thanks to the charisma of its leader, loses everything with the loss of its leader. Realizing this, the leadership of the bloc denies the possibility of a split. Today, the press service denied rumors of a conflict, explaining that the “charismatic” Gerashchenko is the “main candidate” , and Glazyev is the “reserve” . If there is anything striking about this statement, it is the endless naivety of the authors: even leaving aside the question of Gerashchenko’s charisma, it is impossible to understand why the much more famous leader of the bloc remains in reserve. Not to mention why the first most popular party in the country needs two presidential candidates at once.

In any case, what is happening is the success of Glazyev and the failure of Rodina. The bloc, betrayed by the leader, found itself in a hopeless situation: either the break with Glazyev is officially confirmed, but then Rodina turns into a meaningless political entity like the Party of Life or, taking into account the average age of its members, a party of pensioners. Either he continues to support Glazyev, who is aiming to seize power in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (even if “in the second place”) and loses even a hint of ideological clarity, and in return receives in the elections in full and from state television channels - Putin clearly does not need a competitor like Glazyev , - and from the Zyuganov wing in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. And this is not to mention the fact that Rodina will get its way from Khakamada’s headquarters in any development of events, even if we take into account that, judging by yesterday’s speech , the main target of the democratic candidate will be the current President of the Russian Federation.

So, “Motherland” ended much faster than its haters, who frightened indifferent voters with National Socialism, could count on.