Read Online A Russian Diary by Anna Politkovskaya - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Anna Politkovskaya
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observed them are sleeping soundly now, even if they didn't get quite so rich! Those who broke the law should not be treated the same as those who observed it.”
“To be sleeping soundly now” is also a Russian euphemism for being in the grave.
After Putin's outburst, the proceedings continued smoothly. The businessmen made their reports to Putin and gave “socialist undertakings” to meet various targets, just as in the days of the USSR. Primakov carried on doing what nobody had sunk to since the advent of Gorbachev, namely licking the boots of the country's leader and vowing that no words could be more profound than his.
(In December 2003 this grated on the ear and many were dismayed by Primakov's behavior. It subsequently became clear that he was just the first to see the way the wind was once more blowing. Soon everybody who made speeches in Putin's presence was quoting him copiously— just as was the practice in the Brezhnev era—and not asking him awkward questions.)
Valeriya Novodvorskaya, the leader of the Democratic Union Party, received the Starovoytova Award in St. Petersburg for “her contribution to the defense of human rights and strengthening democracy in Russia.” The award is named after Galina Starovoytova, leader of the Democratic Russia Party, who was murdered by special operations hitmen from the Army's Central Intelligence Directorate (GRU) in the entrance to her own home. At the ceremony, Novodvorskaya said, “We are not in opposition to, but in confrontation with, the present regime. We shall not takepart in the forthcoming elections. We shall boycott them, although this will not change anything.”
The opposition in Russia is first and foremost words, but Novod-vorskaya uses them with exceptional accuracy and is the first to take on the state.
The Moscow municipal court has increased the compensation awarded to one of the Nord-Ost widows, Alla Alyakina, whose husband, a businessman, died in the theater siege on October 26, 2002, by two kopecks [a fraction of a penny].
December 24
The first meeting of the United Democratic Council of Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces, at which the main issue is the prospects for joint political survival. An item about fielding a presidential candidate representing a united democratic front was removed from the agenda. From a conversation with Grigorii Yavlinsky:
“Why is Yabloko refusing to participate in the presidential election?” “Because our elections are no longer even relatively democratic.” “Then why did you take part in the parliamentary elections?” “It was precisely the questionable results of the parliamentary elections which made it clear that things could not go on like that. During the last elections unsanctioned political involvement of business was crushed. No businessman now dares to contribute money to a political cause without permission from the Kremlin.” “How do you see the future for Yabloko?”
“The same as for the rest of Russia. They will probably set up a decorative pseudodemocratic parallel party, or fight us to extinction. I don't suppose for a moment that we shall be left in peace to prepare for the next elections.”
“A one-party Duma? But the Communist Party is still in there.”
“Formally, yes. But if you took five people from the remaining parties,
put them in different rooms, and asked them crucial questions like,
‘What should be done in Chechnya? How should the army be reformed?
What should be done about education and health? What should our relationsbe with Europe and America?’ they would all give the same answers. We have a pseudo-multiparty parliament, pseudo free and fair elections, a pseudoimpartial judiciary, and pseudoindependent mass media. The whole setup is a Potemkin village, a sham.”
“Do you see this lasting for a long time?”
“Things are changing rapidly, and anybody who thinks any of this will last for a long time is mistaken. Although to you and me, perhaps,
“To be sleeping soundly now” is also a Russian euphemism for being in the grave.
After Putin's outburst, the proceedings continued smoothly. The businessmen made their reports to Putin and gave “socialist undertakings” to meet various targets, just as in the days of the USSR. Primakov carried on doing what nobody had sunk to since the advent of Gorbachev, namely licking the boots of the country's leader and vowing that no words could be more profound than his.
(In December 2003 this grated on the ear and many were dismayed by Primakov's behavior. It subsequently became clear that he was just the first to see the way the wind was once more blowing. Soon everybody who made speeches in Putin's presence was quoting him copiously— just as was the practice in the Brezhnev era—and not asking him awkward questions.)
Valeriya Novodvorskaya, the leader of the Democratic Union Party, received the Starovoytova Award in St. Petersburg for “her contribution to the defense of human rights and strengthening democracy in Russia.” The award is named after Galina Starovoytova, leader of the Democratic Russia Party, who was murdered by special operations hitmen from the Army's Central Intelligence Directorate (GRU) in the entrance to her own home. At the ceremony, Novodvorskaya said, “We are not in opposition to, but in confrontation with, the present regime. We shall not takepart in the forthcoming elections. We shall boycott them, although this will not change anything.”
The opposition in Russia is first and foremost words, but Novod-vorskaya uses them with exceptional accuracy and is the first to take on the state.
The Moscow municipal court has increased the compensation awarded to one of the Nord-Ost widows, Alla Alyakina, whose husband, a businessman, died in the theater siege on October 26, 2002, by two kopecks [a fraction of a penny].
December 24
The first meeting of the United Democratic Council of Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces, at which the main issue is the prospects for joint political survival. An item about fielding a presidential candidate representing a united democratic front was removed from the agenda. From a conversation with Grigorii Yavlinsky:
“Why is Yabloko refusing to participate in the presidential election?” “Because our elections are no longer even relatively democratic.” “Then why did you take part in the parliamentary elections?” “It was precisely the questionable results of the parliamentary elections which made it clear that things could not go on like that. During the last elections unsanctioned political involvement of business was crushed. No businessman now dares to contribute money to a political cause without permission from the Kremlin.” “How do you see the future for Yabloko?”
“The same as for the rest of Russia. They will probably set up a decorative pseudodemocratic parallel party, or fight us to extinction. I don't suppose for a moment that we shall be left in peace to prepare for the next elections.”
“A one-party Duma? But the Communist Party is still in there.”
“Formally, yes. But if you took five people from the remaining parties,
put them in different rooms, and asked them crucial questions like,
‘What should be done in Chechnya? How should the army be reformed?
What should be done about education and health? What should our relationsbe with Europe and America?’ they would all give the same answers. We have a pseudo-multiparty parliament, pseudo free and fair elections, a pseudoimpartial judiciary, and pseudoindependent mass media. The whole setup is a Potemkin village, a sham.”
“Do you see this lasting for a long time?”
“Things are changing rapidly, and anybody who thinks any of this will last for a long time is mistaken. Although to you and me, perhaps,
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