Translated material
Resistance movement
Democrats have not decided whether to fight for power or against power
Last weekend, the first truly spring and warm one this year, saw increased opposition activity. On Saturday , the conference “New Agenda for the Democratic Movement of Russia” was held in St. Petersburg . The democrats gathered in the hall of the Angleterre Hotel, where Sergei Yesenin committed suicide in 1925. The event was attended by 177 people, mainly representatives of the Union of Right Forces, Yabloko, the liquidated Republican Party of Russia, the United Civil Front and the People's Democratic Union movements. The conference was another attempt by democratic forces to unite into a new movement. But, as usual, it all ended with the adoption of a resolution on the need for unification. And the very next day, Sunday, about 200 representatives of non-parliamentary left forces gathered for their conference in Moscow at the Altai Hotel.On Saturday, a huge crowd of people with flags gathered around Angleterre, and one might think that the people came to greet the democrats or, conversely, to condemn them on behalf of the pro-Kremlin youth movements. But no, St. Petersburg residents didn’t care about the Democrats that day. The city welcomed the Olympic flame.
Democrats speaking at the conference agreed on one thing: it’s time to unite. Moreover, we must start from the very beginning, namely, with the goal of unification. This goal has become a new bone of contention. Representatives of structured parties believed that the goal should be the struggle for power, and therefore participation and victory in elections. Individual politicians who represented themselves, and not parties registered with the Ministry of Justice, insisted on creating a broad movement from below, and called participation in elections futile, not believing in their honesty and legitimacy.
The first to speak was the dissident writer Vladimir Bukovsky. He stated: “The authorities have practically ousted democratic forces from the political space.” And he listed the measures by which this was done - changes to the electoral legislation, complicating the procedure for registering political parties, and so on.
“I have always believed that the Democrats' obsession with party politics is misguided. Parties take shape on the wave of movements, then they have a powerful basis,” said Vladimir Bukovsky. “We need to return to the original idea of a mass resistance movement to establish democracy.” At the same time, Mr. Bukovsky noted that the united democratic party, if it is created, will inevitably face problems with financing: “Where to get funds when not a single businessman dares to finance democratic parties after the YUKOS case and when, by law, they cannot participate in this money from abroad? “I am categorically against any form of existence of an opposition movement associated with official registration by the Ministry of Justice,” said the politician.
SPS leader Nikita Belykh did not agree with the previous speaker and noted that he has a “slightly different attitude” towards party politics in the country. “We must determine for ourselves: are we fighting the regime or fighting for power? - said Mr. Belykh. - Guerrilla methods of struggle are suitable for fighting the regime - derailing trains, going into the forest with berdanks. If we are fighting for power, we must create a structure that demonstrates to society that we have a team of professionals.” Only in this way, according to the leader of the Union of Right Forces, can a “reset of democracy” be made in the country.
The leader of the United Front, Garry Kasparov, rather agreed with Vladimir Bukovsky in assessing the goals and methods of the unification. “We all understand that unification is needed. The subject of discussion is not the form, but the content of the association,” said Mr. Kasparov. - We cannot say that we are fighting for power, since this means fighting for victory in the elections. We are fighting for these elections to take place - in accordance with democratic procedures."
Yabloko youth leader Ilya Yashin spoke about the need for renewal within the democratic movements themselves, which, in his opinion, reflect the processes taking place on a national scale. He noted: there is no competition within democratic parties, as well as mechanisms for collegial decision-making.
Mikhail Amosov, a member of the Yabloko party bureau, proposed that all democratic forces avoid attacks on each other during the upcoming election cycle. This idea was supported by Nikita Belykh.
As a result of the conference, the Democrats adopted a resolution. “The creation of a powerful political force that would be able to consolidate the support of millions of Russian citizens with democratic convictions can and should change the situation in the country. The unification of Russia's democratic forces is possible and necessary. This unification must begin with agreement on key issues,” the document says. “We will strive for comprehensive political reform in the country in order to radically democratize the socio-political situation in the country.”
The resolution also notes that political reform must include three components - the abolition of censorship, restrictions on freedom of political activity and the restoration of a real separation of powers and federalism. According to the conference participants, to carry out reform it is necessary to combine various methods of work - from contacts with the authorities to civil resistance.
“We are not looking for confrontation: we are striving to create a movement of hope for millions of Russians who want to see their country free. We intend to do everything in our power to return Russia to a free, democratic path of development,” the resolution says.
And the very next day, Sunday, about 200 representatives of non-parliamentary left forces gathered for their conference in Moscow, at the Altai Hotel. Among them are the National Bolsheviks led by Eduard Limonov, representatives of the political organization "Russian Communist Party - CPSU", the International Union of Soviet Officers, the Vanguard of Red Youth, and the Association of Marxist Organizations. The event was called “The political situation in Russia and the path of the left opposition.” The Moscow summit also agreed to begin a unification process within its wing and even offered cooperation to the liberals. This is reflected in the final document, which was called not a resolution, but a declaration: “We have different views on many problems, but we recognize the need to unite to oppose the social and political course being implemented in our country.”
But we are talking about creating not a new party structure, but some kind of confederation, said Alexander Averin, a representative of the banned National Bolshevik Party. At the same time, the authors of the document insist that their ideals, such as “solidarity, freedom, self-government, collectivism and social justice,” can only be realized by “changing capitalism to a socialist system.” “We are part of the global anti-capitalist left movement. Standing up for the right of every nation to self-determination and development, we have an uncompromising attitude towards any forms of chauvinism and xenophobia,” the declaration says.