What kind of Putin do we need?

In issue 6 of the magazine "Political class" for 2005, the editor-in-chief of the magazine

Vitaly Tretyakov published an article "Do we need Putin after 2008?".

This is a continuation of an article published in issues 1 and 2 of the magazine, where the author proves that in the conditions of the only presidential candidate - Vladimir Putin, a successful president, it is more correct not to hold elections in 2008, but to give Putin the opportunity to fully implement the reforms he has announced and determine national development strategy. There are no guarantees that the next president will be able not only to complete these reforms or find a new necessary strategy for Russia's development, but at least to maintain stability in the country and, on the whole, the forward course of its movement into a rather alarming future, crowded, as well as the present, very serious challenges and threats .

V. Tretyakov lists these main threats: "the threat of the collapse of the country or the exclusion of territories from it; the threat of depopulation, or simply speaking, the extinction of the population; the threat of further deepening of the moral crisis, the penetration of organized crime into power, the cold civil war and ineffective management; the threat of final loss Russia of full-fledged international and even domestic sovereignty . "The new president of Russia must be able to create conditions for minimizing, and even better, eliminating all these (and many other, more specific) threats - this is the main requirement for him . "

Of course, if a charismatic leader appears in the country by 2008, he will win the presidential election in any case, but the author believes that such a charismatic leader will not arise, and the country simply has no other choice but to change the constitution and leave Putin in power.

According to V. Tretyakov, "at the same time there are only two honest, effective and democratic scenarios" : changing the constitutional term of office of the president of Russia (for Putin and all subsequent presidents) through "a completely official, publicly and frankly motivated procedure for adjusting the Constitution" or electing Putin head of the new Russian-Belarusian state.

Then the author puts forward a number of demands that the society must present to Putin in the event of an extension of his presidential powers. The president must formulate a "long-term strategy for national development" , define the goals of the political reform, "to build what kind of political regime and in what timeframe this reform leads" , clarify his party affiliation, speak out on the problems of the union state and "Russians as a divided nation" , to propose a "concept of a social contract for Russia and a mechanism for adopting such a contract," to promulgate the principles of personnel policy, specific socio-economic goals set for the government. But most importantly, "Vladimir Putin must announce a plan for reverse democratization . "

The end of V. Tretyakov's article is devoted to what "reverse democratization" is ( "Reverse democratization is a process of gradual 'unfreezing' of political processes and civil initiatives, partly curtailed during the years of Vladimir Putin's rule" ) and outlines specific actions for its implementation - 25 points, among which there are "Limiting the tenure of the heads of regions from the moment of the first appointment to six years" , and "Returning to the election of the heads of the subjects of the Federation, if the parliament comes to such a decision, in 2017" and, for example, "Introduction of restrictions on showing foreign film and television products on television and in film distribution (quoting)" or "Ban on wearing military uniforms by anyone not in military or equivalent service - including for private security companies" .

Sources

• Tretyakov V. Do we need Putin after 2008? // Political class. 2005. No. 6.