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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Putin's speech inspired by shadowy that calls for end to democracy, restoration of imperial rule |
| 2006-05-24 |
| Its only known address is a half-collapsed abandoned building, and its only telephone number doesn't work. But somehow a secretive lobby group, with reputed links to Russia's intelligence services, has emerged as a possible source of inspiration for President Vladimir Putin's state-of-the-union speech. When Mr. Putin gave his annual televised address on May 10, military analyst Ivan Safranchuk immediately thought the President's words about national defence sounded different from the rest of the speech. "That part seemed out of place," the Moscow director of the World Security Institute said a few hours after Mr. Putin's appearance. "Maybe there was a different speechwriter for that section." More observers started wondering who wrote Mr. Putin's remarks, after political gossip websites pointed out the uncanny similarity between the President's text and an essay published by a private organization based in St. Petersburg that calls itself the Public Association of Veterans of Special Services. If this lobby group did have a role in crafting Mr. Putin's speech, analysts say, it would be a troubling sign because the group also lobbies against democracy and favours a return to rule by emperors. "It looks very serious," Mr. Safranchuk said. "It means these views have deeply infiltrated the Kremlin." Mr. Putin's speech made headlines with the assertion that Russia must rebuild its military to resist foreign pressure. The President cited the nationalist writer Ivan Ilyin, saying the job of soldier should be considered an honourable profession. Russia's conscript army should be transformed into a two-thirds professional organization, Mr. Putin added, which would allow a reduction in the mandatory military service to 12 months from 24. All of these ideas -- along with many of the sentences, paragraphs and the same quotation from Mr. Ilyin -- are contained in an essay on military reform posted at http://www.specvet.spb.ru. The website claims to represent veterans of Russia's special services from the northern city of St. Petersburg. (Mr. Putin would theoretically qualify for membership, as he was born in the city and served the KGB and its successor agency the FSB.) Google's cached database of Internet sites shows the St. Petersburg site existed at least since February, and some Internet references suggest it was published months earlier, but it's impossible to confirm exactly when the military-reform essay was posted. The site contains no names or contact details for its owners, and its only external link is to the FSB website. But registry information provided by Relcom Business Network Ltd., the site's Moscow-based host, says it is managed by somebody named Nikolay Petrov. Mr. Petrov did not respond to e-mails and there was no answer at his telephone number last week. The website's postal address, southeast of downtown St. Petersburg, is a jumble of crumbling red bricks and empty window frames. Alexander Yermolayev, a former KGB major-general who serves as executive secretary for a group of special-services veterans in Moscow, said he has heard of the St. Petersburg organization and believes it is legitimate. But the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 splintered the KGB veterans into many sub-groups, Mr. Yermolayev said, and his group has lost contact with the former officers from St. Petersburg. "Such bodies as the special services present great danger if they are used as political instruments," Mr. Yermolayev said. "But nobody thought or cared about that when they divided and broke the structure." A source familiar with Russia's special services said the St. Petersburg group probably consists of former and current members of the GRU, the military-intelligence unit established in 1918 by Vladimir Lenin. Unlike the KGB, the GRU was never disbanded after the fall of the Soviet Union. The website argues that Russia should be ruled by one leader who isn't regularly replaced by elections. "Democracy is a trap, and democrats are demagogues," the site says. "For Russia, democracy is as foreign as cannibalism." Instead of democracy, the website proposes a blended model of czarist rule, Communist-era authoritarianism and votes with limited enfranchisement: "Like a democratic Soviet Union, headed by Czar Alexander III," the website says, referring to fierce nationalist emperor. "There will be elections, but not democratic," the site continues. "Only the elite would be allowed to vote." Under the website's model, all ministers and governors would be appointed by the elected ruler, whose terms might last 20 to 40 years. Leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church would bless the leader and encourage support for the regime. "Thus the ruler will serve God, and people will serve the ruler," the site concludes. These ideas aren't entirely outrageous in the country's current political climate, in which many Russians associate democracy with the chaos and lawlessness of the 1990s. Leonid Sedov, a senior analyst at the independent VTsIOM-A polling agency, said roughly 80 per cent of Russians dislike the idea of democracy. While only 3 per cent want a return of the pre-revolutionary czars, he said, about 16 per cent think Russia needs an authoritarian ruler such as Stalin. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #9 'billy, I've heard Boortz say something similar in that only the educated in our country should be aloud to vote as well. Not educated in the higher degree sense but those who know what's going on i.e. - those who can name the speaker of the house, where Iraq is on a map, etc. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2006-05-24 20:55 |
| #8 Instead of democracy, the website proposes a blended model of czarist rule, Communist-era authoritarianism and votes with limited enfranchisement: "Only the elite would be allowed to vote." Sounds a lot like the French model...only less inept and a lot more menacing. On second thought, it seems like Feudalism Lite. |
| Posted by: psychohillbilly 2006-05-24 14:39 |
| #7 Why not try a representative republic with a true separation of powers? That's as foreign to Russia as sobriety. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2006-05-24 11:44 |
| #6 Bring back the Tsars? Yeah, that'll fly. |
| Posted by: mojo 2006-05-24 10:29 |
| #5 Puty's best move would to be to simply take over the Russian mafia first. The rest of the process will then follow. Its so Byzantine that it is so Russian. |
| Posted by: Glinesh Slating1291 2006-05-24 09:39 |
| #4 True, democracy is a trap, and democrats are demagogues. Why not try a representative republic with a true separation of powers? I'm just sayin'.... |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-05-24 09:32 |
| #3 The last time a bunch of German bureaucrats went to Russia, the Soviet army had a heck of a time dislodging them. I know what, import a bunch of Chinese laborers. It'll be different this time. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-05-24 09:31 |
| #2 I tend to look at Putin from the point of view of somebody who is utterly pragmatic when it comes to restoring his country to power. He is constantly looking for an "angle", and continually disappointed because there are no easy solutions. His biggest flaw is that all his ideas come from his inner circle of FSB buddies, who are no more creative or imaginative than long time mid-level bureaucrats anywhere. The Czars had a solution to that problem: import German bureaucrats. They were still uncreative, but they were at least familiar with a better way of doing business and would help "upgrade" Russia's bureaucracy to do things a little better. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-05-24 09:22 |
| #1 The Globe and Mail is arguably the worst MSM publication on the planet. Back in the 80's when I lived in TO I thought it was complete/unmitigated crap. Thank God for the Internet. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-05-24 08:23 |