#11
From: "Peter Lavelle" <plavelle@metropol.ru>
Subject: Untimely Thoughts
Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2001
Peter Lavelle: Untimely Thoughts - Unity as banality
(re The Unity Party and its most recent irrelevant victory)
Another one bites the dust. Now Unity equals, with 84 seats, the strength of the Communists in the Duma. This time around it was a SPS deputy to defect to the Big Bear. (Everyone tells me that the SPS is turning into a boring cocktail party). As Unity boasts of each victory it loses more of its not too sophisticated identity. Unity has a Soviet quality to it - big is better, increased refinement a casualty. Shoigu, feeling the heat of Stepashin and Ustinov, must be hoping his master is pleased with the increased body count. Unity represents everything that his wrong about Russia's parliamentary democracy. Unity also represents just what could be right and instructive about the Russian democratic project moving forward.
Anything that limits the role of the Communists in Russia is a reason to be pleased. Zyuganov and his faceless bureaucrats remain a cancer on Russia's democratic development. They claim to represent the most disenfranchised, while live amongst Russia's money elite. To top it off, the Communists have little interest in attaining real power. It is far better to stay in the opposition to take advantage of the perks given with Duma membership. Cars and luxurious flats in Moscow are obviously more interesting than serious policy development dedicated to help the average babushka selling bootleg smokes at metro stations. All of this should make their equal in the Duma so much more attractive. Well it doesn't.
Unity is just as faceless, if not more opportunistic, as its Communist opponents. Unity is no more than a political whip in service of authority - presidential authority. Like the Communists, policy articulation is passed down to party members. Of course some nit picking is acceptable - pork barrel politics keeps the rank and file in line. Unity's credo is to service the Boss, as opposed to protecting, representing, and speaking out for a presumed electorate. Luzhkov as Putin's lap dog pretty much sums up the moral and intellectual integrity of the party and its mission.
This does not mean politics does not exist in Putin's Russia. Politics is very much alive and well in this country. The fact of the matter is that politics is acted out elsewhere. The Presidential Administration, the Cabinet, and some remaining "vested interests" make up Russia's real Duma. An unfortunate feature of Russia's journey toward democracy is that politics remains a truly bureaucratic practice. Because this arrangement continues to solidify Putin's power base, the president does not seem to mind. Short-term gains undermine longer-term prospects. Eventually the economic and financial progress of small and middle-size companies - so close to the president's heart (sic) - will demand representation and respect. When this happens Putin's democratic vision will be in demand of revision.
Yesterday, Putin spoke to social groups who desire to expand the scope and power of civil society in Russia. If we take him at his word, Putin wishes to know what society wants and does not want of the government. Unity is as close to a representative group of Russian society available. When Putin exclaims the words "get out the vote" just maybe Unity can mean something other than servility and democratic banality. If Unity can't serve the President's in this way it is no better, if not worse, than the Communists. If Unity cannot articulate the interests of individuals and groups it claims to represent, it should change its name to the "Democratic Centralism Party of Russia". Even with such a change, Putin could eventually dump them all.
The problem with Russia is, even with the best of intentions, democracy cannot be decreed. The problem with Russia is even if there is a proclamation that all are free many will doubt and resist. Just about everything related to Russia's reform project exceeds the progress of the country's hopes of democratization. This may become Putin's greatest challenge.
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