Russian authorities in 2018

How manual control in the country works from the publication of the conversations of Shestun with senior officials

The publication by the head of the Serpukhov district Alexander Shestun records of conversations with officials and security forces goes beyond the regional subjects of the Moscow Region and the “garbage wars” that erupted there. Shestun, of course, is trying to solve its very specific problems and in itself, as far as one can judge, the figure is by no means unambiguous, but all this is not so interesting. This episode is important for the whole of Russia as an instant cut of life and morals of modern Russian authorities, which accidentally became the property of the general public and exposed all those mechanisms with which our country actually controls.

Appeal of the head of the Serpukhov district Alexander Shestun to the President of the Russian Federation Photo: YouTube.com

The plot is simple: there is the current head of the Serpukhov district, Alexander Shestun, to whom a certain number of claims in power have accumulated - he does not like the governor of the Moscow Region Vorobyov, opposes the expansion of the garbage training ground, authorized protest actions, does not want to resign and refuse to participate in the upcoming direct elections of the head of the district. Therefore, it is pressed on him from all sides, right up to the eviction from the house and the threat of his demolition - it suddenly turned out that the house of Shestun was built illegally. Pressing, not at all hiding, setting out both threats and sentences with direct text.

These dialogs should once again convince everyone and everyone that the theory of “small deeds” in modern Russia does not work and a lone fighter with a system at its lower levels is doomed to be “moved”, as the interlocutors of the head of the Serpukhov district formulate their threats

For anyone who has long been observing the situation in the country, there is nothing new in the public conversations: “Patch” a person for power - and “receives” in full of the program with all levels. But it is one thing to know in theory, it is completely different to hear the original monologues of officials and generals, to find out how they formulate all this, how the mechanisms of manual management of political processes act. The records of conversations published by Shestun should once again convince everyone and everyone that the theory of “small affairs” in modern Russia does not work and a lone fighter from a systemic at its lower levels is doomed to be “moved”, as the interlocutors of the head of the Serpukhov district formulate their threats.

The structure of the political regime of Putin’s Russia of the 2018 model, as it can be understood after the records presented, looks like this: there is a president that reigning in an inaccessible extension, to which the presidential administration, which was operating on his behalf, is only humbly managing, contrary to the highest legislative, executive and judicial authority in the country. There are governors approved by the President, who, in turn, can, for the implementation of the goals agreed with the authorities, attract any resources of the administration, all law enforcement agencies and courts. In addition, there are omnipotent generals who, although they serve in departments that allegedly existing to protect the rights of citizens, fight spies, terrorists and extremists, but actually engaged in monitoring the political situation on the ground and not at all embarrassed.

There is a president that reigned in an unattainable height, to whom it is only possible to humbly appeal, and there is a presidential administration that is operating on his behalf, contrary to all the de facto written in the Constitution and is the highest legislative, executive and judicial authority in the country

The courts are especially interesting, although not new at all. The court in the published conversations appears as a completely submissive to the will of the authorities, and this is especially important to hear now and all those who continue to treat the Russian judicial system anyway seriously. One of the theses against Pavel Durov and the Telegram messenger is, they say, a court decision, and if we want to live in a legal state, we must fulfill it. But if the court simply does what is convenient for the security forces and authorized by the Presidential Administration, is it possible to treat this body and his decisions with the same pet that the courts of those countries where the judiciary is reliably separated from the executive?

The interlocutors of Shestun perceive judges as passive and limp artists and guarantee him in advance negative court decisions for him in case of refusal to fulfill the requirements. That is, officials and generals for a second have no doubt that the brave and honest judges who are replaced by the pressure on themselves and suddenly make a decision in favor of Shestun. Actually, this is all that you need to know about the Russian courts, their decisions and their place in the structure of the authorities of the Russian Federation.

In addition to the operational leadership by the courts and security forces, the presidential administration, as follows from conversations, also directly leads the persecution of objectionable in the media. In any case, a person represented as the head of the AP Yarin department directly promises the Shopli to the cessation of “media persecution” if he goes to meet the requirements of the authorities. Against the backdrop of the omnipotence of the security forces and operational subordination of the court, this does not seem to be particularly impressive to officials, but therefore it does not become normal.

The authorities, which finally turned into a backstage jugging, does not like two things - public scandals and people on the streets. Therefore, the most worthless and wandered official receives a chance to leave quietly, and anyone who tries to slap the door or refuses to leave, falls under pressure

It is curious to pay attention to what is achieved from Sheptun: to leave quietly. One has only to write a resignation statement without a date, how all the problems will immediately end, and, as the greatest mercy, he will even allow him to “keep his face”. After listening to how they scare the head of the district, one can easily imagine how exactly the processing of once influential mayors and governors, at different times, who agreed to “quietly leave”, especially since in conversations they directly refer to the history of the former head of Mari El Leonid Markelov and other retired governors. Most likely, in similar conversations with the heads of the region, instead of Yarina, the head of the administration or his deputy participated, and people in higher ranks could be from the security forces, but the structure and content of the conversations are quite clear: “Do you want you to move? No? Then sign. "

The authorities, which finally turned into a backstage jugging, does not like two things - public scandals and people on the streets. Therefore, the most worthless and wandered official receives a chance to leave quietly, and anyone who tries to slap the door or refuses to leave, falls under pressure and risks being “moved” on the command from above.

After all of the above, there is no point in surprising that in all these conversations there is not a word about citizens who, according to the still current constitution, are considered carriers of the highest power in the country. Who will go to the polls, who will not go to the elections, who will win the elections - the generals and officials decide, and this directly speaks in one of the episodes. And about the governor of Vorobyov and his prospects, the generals know everything in advance - they say, he also did not remain long. That the population thinks about the governor of Vorobyov or the head of the Shestun district - no one is at all interested in.

This is what the structure of power in Russia in the spring of 2018 looks like, in any case, it seems to be that after listening to the records of Alexander Shestun. Frankly, the picture is completely joyless.

* Political scientist, permanent Columnist NT

The author’s opinion may not coincide with the opinion of the editorial office