The economy may be in recession, but political parties are plowing on through their usual cycles without reaction to a minor thing like economic crisis. Political routines are inviolable and cannot be affected by time or trouble. If Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is scheduled to meet with party leaders he will do so, whatever happens. Only this time the meeting was formally devoted to the Government's bailout plan, a high-profile policy issue.
It was supposed to look like the head of Government was still in doubt regarding which measures to use to rescue the national economy, as if he had decided to consult his political rivals, who might have strong arguments in favour of their own economic reform plans they would gladly share with the leader of pro-Kremlin United Russia.
However, their plans turned out to be so radical that Mr Putin is unlikely to take their advice, and Russia will be all the better for that.
Mr Putin later met with members of his own party, to maintain some political balance; this gave Speaker Boris Gryzlov an excellent opportunity to assure the Prime Minister once again of his unfailing readiness to ardently defend Mr Putin's perfect bailout plan 24 hours a day against malicious attacks by the opposition.
As there are usually few reasons for excitement at the State Duma, most of the opposition members gathered at a Communist Party (KPRF) plenary session instead. The event provided them with a small but enjoyable distraction. Young followers of Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov had a full-fledged fight with another youth political group, United Russia's Young Guard, and beat their opponents fair and square. Literally. The latter left the meeting holding their heads high and saying: "We see there are going to be no debates here." Later the Young Guard members who had wanted political debates with the Communists complained to the media that their opponents had "used obscene language" and "tore up their posters".
The incident made the Communists proud, and not only of the victory. They have also been able to demonstrate that the Communist Party does not count among its members only ancient followers of Josef Stalin, but has young and capable advocates of Vladimir Lenin's theories to show. The young fighters were immediately granted full membership.
Mr Zyuganov announced at the plenary sessions a decision to hold protests and call for the federal Government's resignation. Such was the Communists' response to Mr Putin's carefully nursed bailout plan. On the other hand, the announcement did not specify whether the Prime Minister's own resignation was required, or the Communists would be satisfied with a minor sacrifice of one of his deputies, for example [Alexei] Kudrin or [Igor] Shuvalov. Neither did the document contain a hint to whether Mr Zyuganov had informed Mr Putin of his plans in detail at a one-on-one meeting the day before. It rather sounded as though the Communist leader chose not to upset the Prime Minister with his protest plans.
Incidentally, the resolution passed by the plenary session reads that the demand for the Government resignation will be used as the main slogan only at the third stage of protests. The Communists claim the demand is based on the general public's opinion. The first protest is slated for April 4.
Other party plans include a major PR campaign as part of the preparations to Josef Stalin's 130th birth anniversary. Mr Zyuganov has announced a "Stalin recruitment campaign", which is "a sacred cause" for each local branch of the party. What is the benefit of struggle against anti-Stalinism? It can be conducted on end, and most importantly, aside from the slippery anti-crisis topic. One gets the impression that with time this important concern may displace less important problems from the party agenda. Ritual is all-powerful.
Alexandra Samarina