Vladimir Ryzhkov
No Debates for United Russia
As former Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin once sadly remarked, any political party set up in the new Russia ends up as another version of the Communist Party. He was famous for his succinct pronouncements. His edict would be just as appropriate for the 10th congress of United Russia, which elected a milkmaid to the party General Council-not because she was a Russian counterpart of Lech Walesa to start from a low social status for a dazzling political career. No, she was elected just because she was a milkmaid. It went without saying that the vote was unanimous just as on all the other congress decisions. United Russia has no room for debates as the Soviet Communist Party had none in its time.
SEATING THE AUDIENCE. As in the Soviet time, leaders' addresses hardly received more attention than the entourage, of which the greatest efforts belonged to the décor of the Gostiny Dvor cultural centre, the congress venue. It was done up, American fashion, in exquisite blues with opulent lighting. Seating the delegates and guests was a job of no smaller importance. To exhilarate the gloomy display of expensive dark suits, paunches and bald patches, high officials and prosperous businessmen were interspersed by young people selected by Kremlin spin doctors. The young were seated to alternate boys and girls. That was done with the greatest precision in the presidium, close to the top leaders-Putin, Medvedev and Gryzlov. All those pains were fully justified by glossy televised pictures. As we know, what matters most today is good television coverage.
REFRESHMENTS. Snacks were also Soviet-style-free and nourishing, with salmon and ham sandwiches and expensive chocolates. All those delicacies were especially popular with younger guests.
CENTRAL REPORT. As at Soviet party congresses, the central speaker was the principal figure in the party and the country. The central political report was made by Putin, who went further and with a greater amount of practical details than Medvedev in his recent state-of-the-nation address. The President obediently hearkened to prove that he was perfectly right referring to United Russia as the ruling party in his greeting to the congress.
Crucial decisions concerned personnel placement. It was the same at Communist Party congresses of the Soviet years. No one really believed that landmark resolutions on cutting the profit tax and increasing real estate purchase tax were made by the congress. It was clear that Putin merely honoured the delegates by announcing his own decisions to them first. He could have just as well announced them shortly before, when addressing shipbuilders in Severodvinsk. As the Communist Party of the Soviet time, United Russia as the ruling party is kept away from decision-making and has no influence to speak of. Unanimous enthusiastic approval is its only duty, and it is true to that duty.
FUNCTIONARIES. As for major party functionaries, their placement reflects the arrangement of forces in the top echelon-again, just as in the Soviet years. Veterans of the party and of Russian politics, such as Oleg Morozov, Valery Draganov, Yekaterina Lakhova or Konstantin Zatulin, have receded from the limelight to demonstrate that the relay race of elites is going on to oust community activists who came into the foreground in the democratic competition of the 1990s. Coming in their stead are obscure functionaries that entirely belong to our drab time of the so-called sovereign democracy. The change brings forebodings to the few surviving big-time regional leaders, such as Yury Luzhkov or Mintimer Shaimiyev. They are doomed by rising authoritarianism, which does not tolerate alternative influences.
SOCIAL REPRESENTATION. Social and professional categories represented at the congress show who rules contemporary Russia, and how-just as they did in the communist time. An archetypal regional delegation at the United Russia congress included the governor, the speaker of the regional legislature, the mayor of the central city, the local Young Guard leader, and several businessmen, members of parliament. There was a token number of community and independent trade union activists, freelance intellectuals, and ordinary people. Soviet party congresses gathered Communist functionaries and economic managers. United Russia could have the formula Bureaucracy + Business for its motto (which of the two has more money is unclear). The border between the two has been obliterated. In fact, they have merged. United Russia is based on their unity. The present political system maintains power and market monopoly. That is its core. Monopoly allows free access to the budget and offers exorbitant profits. With all that, business is incomparably weaker than bureaucracy, which thus becomes the most privileged of business circles.
The Soviet Communist Party was also striving for absolute monopoly-but then, its functionaries had a more moderate appetite. The present system has taken the worst from the Soviet years-authoritarianism and Orwellian propaganda, and from the 1990s-blatant corruption. "Authoritarianism for Corruption and Monopoly" would be a perfect motto for our ruling party.
The State Duma, dominated by United Russia, approved constitutional amendments extending the presidential term to six years in a matter of ten minutes, bypassing debates. No wonder-the amended Constitution will guarantee present rulers' sway for years ahead. New tax rates worth 600 billion roubles were approved the day after the congress-again without a discussion. In a word, Russia has neither a parliament nor a ruling party. United Russia is no more than a voting machine.
"Authoritarianism for Corruption and Monopoly" would be a perfect motto for our ruling party.
