DATE=3/28/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA REACT
NUMBER=5-46025
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Russia's newspapers have pronounced the
country's political opposition dead in the wake of
Vladimir Putin's resounding first round presidential
election victory. V-O-A Moscow Correspondent Peter
Heinlein reports on the consensus of the Russian
commentators.
TEXT: The liberal Segodnya newspaper called it "the
rout of the democrats." Izvestia wrote, "The time of
romantic democracy has past, and we have come to the
time of pragmatists." The mass circulation daily
Moskovsky Komsomolets splashed across its front page,
"The revolution is over. Forget about it."
If Vladimir Putin was the runaway winner in Sunday's
presidential election, Russia's press pronounced
liberal economist Grigory Yavlinsky the big loser.
During the campaign, Mr. Yavlinsky predicted he would
edge out Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov and force a
runoff against Mr. Putin.
Instead, he finished far back, with less than six
percent of the vote, compared to Mr. Zyuganov's 29
percent. Analysts concluded many would-be Yavlinsky
supporters switched to Mr. Putin, actually pushing him
over the 50 percent mark needed to win outright.
In its front-page report, the Segodnya newspaper noted
that Mr. Yavlinsky's Yabloko Party and other democrats
had been quarreling for a long time, and, it says,
they all died (politically) on the same day. The
paper's editor, Mikhail Berger, says the presidential
vote points up the failure of Russia's fractious
democratic movement to produce a single figure capable
of capturing the public's imagination.
/// BERGER ACT ///
I think it's the key question that during 10
years, there is not charismatic leader coming
from liberal ideas. Unfortunately, we can see
that Yabloko bloc, which represents liberal
ideas in Russia, getting less and less
influence.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Berger says Grigory Yavlinsky signed his political
death warrant when he publicly criticized the highly
popular war in Chechnya. Vladimir Putin, on the other
hand, saw the war as a way to restore Russia's pride
and to reverse feelings of national humiliation caused
by its defeat in the previous Chechen conflict.
When Mr. Putin was appointed prime minister last year,
many observers predicted he would suffer because of
his association with the unpopular President Boris
Yeltsin. But Segodnya editor Mikhail Berger says that
psychologically, Russians saw voting for Vladimir
Putin as a vote against President Yeltsin.
/// BERGER ACT ///
You have to take into account that Russians were
humiliated by Chechen terrorist activities, and
Putin showed Russians there is somebody who can
give an answer, who can say Russia is still a
power. And O-K, Mr. Yeltsin can say Putin is
his protege, his successor, but mostly Russian
voters do hope that Mr. Putin will start a new
political life.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Berger says the rise of Vladimir Putin and the
fall of Grigory Yavlinsky reveals a desperation among
Russians. He says people are willing to abandon
democratic ideals and accept even a hard-liner if he
can bring back the better times they knew in the
Soviet era.
/// BERGER ACT ///
In any case, democratic idea is in trouble now
in Russia. Russia showed this country wants
hard-liners and Communists. Nobody else.
/// END ACT ///
Vladimir Putin clearly understands Russia's desire for
what is known here as a "strong hand." In an article
published on the internet last December, he wrote, "It
will not happen soon, if ever, that Russia becomes
another version of the United States or Britain, where
there is a tradition of liberal values."
Mr. Putin added, "We value the benefits of democracy
and freedom, but we also are alarmed by the obvious
weakening of the power of the state." (Signed)
NEB/PFH/JWH/JP
28-Mar-2000 11:42 AM EDT (28-Mar-2000 1642 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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