Results of the first year of the Decembrist movement

On the evening of December 4, 2011, political activists from a wide variety of political forces - from Limonov's "Other Russia" to Udaltsov's "Left Front", from nationalists to anarchists - came out in various parts of Moscow to protest against the failure of the elections. There were not many of them, a couple of dozen at most. And at the same time, a huge mass of citizens took part in the elections for the first time as observers. The next day, some of them went to a protest rally for the first time. The Internet was blown up by videos showing fraud and forgery, and many observers personally encountered the real practice of “correct voting.”

On December 5, 2011, several thousand Muscovites came to the rally “For Fair Elections” on Chistye Prudy in Moscow, held by Solidarity, most of whom were not regulars at such events. Many came for the first time, outraged by the fraud in the State Duma elections on December 4, 2011. This was the beginning of the Decembrist movement, which united both left and right, nationalists and anti-fascists. They united not “for”, but against the existing “personalist regime” of Vladimir Putin.

Even more citizens came to the rally on December 10, 2011 on Bolotnaya Square. On December 15, 2012, the Constitutional Court of the opposition outlined the “Freedom March,” which should sum up the results of the first year of the Decembrist movement.

I define the “Decembrist movement” as politically active citizens who advocate, first of all, for the return of competition to the political life of the country and, as a result, a consistent reform of the legal and political system of the country. Ideologically, the range of views is very wide - from extreme nationalist to anti-fascist, from anarchists and new leftists to libertarians. Some of the “Decembrists” formalized their ideological preferences by joining one or another political organization, while the other part remained distinctly outside the parties—civic activists, “white ribbon activists.”

Now let us summarize the preliminary results of the first year of the Decembrist movement. Firstly, the political situation in the country has changed radically. The ratings of the tandem, and we still have a combination of Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, no matter how various analysts and experts send the latter into retirement and overboard from political life, are falling. The regime is increasingly forced to rely on repressive mechanisms, which speaks more of its weakness than its strength. The regime continues to demonstrate its inability to solve the country's day-to-day problems. The three-day transport collapse on the Moscow-St. Petersburg highway is further evidence of this. And before that there was Krymsk and Derbent. An attempt to seize the banner of the anti-corruption fight from Navalny and Co. in the framework of the criminal cases of Serdyukov and Skrynnik is fraught with reputational losses rather than gains. To imprison “our own people” means to undermine the foundations of the existing regime, and loud searches and arrests will no longer convince citizens of the so-called “Putin majority”. Everyone is tired of surrogates and imitations.

Secondly, the political landscape of the era of “Putin’s stability” is slowly and inevitably collapsing. In place of the dominance of United Russia and systemic parties - A Just Russia, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Liberal Democratic Party - a completely new party landscape is beginning to emerge, where various "Kremlin" or "spoiler" projects are beginning to compete with various civil political initiatives. These are “RPR-Parnas” , and “Democratic Choice” , and the National Democratic Party , and “People’s Alliance ”, and “Fifth of December” , and “Libertarian Party of Russia ”, and others. The very fate of the systemic parties is not clear - the Kremlin’s political strategists are returning A Just Russia under control, or rather, splitting it into small pieces. The same fate may soon await United Russia itself. It may well be exchanged for another version of the All-Russian Popular Front. The limited political reform launched under President Medvedev is the small drop that is quietly but surely eroding the political landscape of Russia. Even in its most limited form, political competition will break through the rubble of “political stability.” We can expect a radical change in the existing party picture in Russia. The only thing that is clear is that “technological” parties without a clear ideology and leaders, and most importantly, activists, will soon become a thing of the past.

Thirdly, for the first time, an opposition body was formed in alternative elections, which de facto and de jure competes in its legitimacy with the entire colossus of Russian statehood. This is not an exaggeration. The opposition Coordination Council actually becomes the reporting point in the confrontation with the “personalist regime.” Yes, he is not ready for this role. And the members of the Opposition Coordination Council themselves still have not even realized the burden that has fallen on them, and are not ready for confrontation. But the logic of political struggle will inevitably lead them to this. Let us wish them good luck and do not forget that the current composition of the Constitutional Court has been elected for one year.

And a few words about missed opportunities. About the missed opportunity to nominate Alexei Navalny as a single candidate for the post of President of Russia. Firstly, Alexey Navalny was not prepared personally, organizationally, or financially for the presidential election campaign. Secondly, the “angry citizens,” having been observers and at rallies, were not ready to give up everything and support Alexei Navalny’s “Good Propaganda Machine.” Moreover, the DMP as a project arose only after the presidential elections on March 4, 2012. Many of my libertarian colleagues talk about “leaking the protest.” Most often, they convey Limonov’s point of view on the situation when a number of “leaders of the protest movement” moved, by agreement with the Moscow mayor’s office, a rally from Revolution Square to Bolotnaya Square. Of course, an ugly behind-the-scenes game is visible here, but after a fight they don’t wave their fists. And most importantly, I don’t think that Revolution Square would be much different from Bolotnaya. Hopes for Tahir? Maybe. But not a fact.

The main achievement of the past year of protests is that Russian citizens have woken up from the hibernation of “Putin’s stability” and are ready to take responsibility for the future of the country. Hundreds of thousands of people thought about the state of affairs in our country, hundreds of thousands of people began to actively influence the political agenda. The "old regime" did not collapse, it was only slightly shaken. More to come!