Paul
Goble
Staunton, April 2 – Vladimir Putin
like his Soviet and tsarist predecessors has long been able to rely on the notion
that Russia is a country with “a good tsar” surrounded by “bad boyars,” but the
editors of Russky Monitor say that for many Russians, that view no longer dominates
their thinking, leading many to blame the Kremlin leader right alongside his
local minions.
That reflects the growing awareness
among Russians that all decision-making power is concentrated in the Kremlin
and that what officials in the regions and republics are doing is simply what “the
tsar” wants rather than reflecting in every case what “the boyars” do (rusmonitor.com/formula-khoroshijj-car-plokhie-boyare-posle-volokolamska-nachala-davat-sboi.html).
The mass meeting in Volokolamsk
which took place after the leaders had been arrested indicates that “the potential
energy of dissatisfaction among Russians is now very high” and that ever more
of them “see the source of their problems not only in the governor … but also
in Putin,” as the protest slogan in the title above indicates.
Some observers, the news site
continued, say that the principle of “good tsar, bad boyars’ is collapsing
before our eyes. The authorities understand that” blocking the meeting even
after arresting its leaders and preventing others from coming in will only make
that trend more significant.
“Under conditions of intensifying
economic and infrastructure crisis in the country, such incidents will occur
ever more often. And the central authorities, despite using all available propaganda
resources at full power” won’t be able to restore the old formula. In its
absence, Russian life will change radically.
Russky monitor doesn’t say, but the
regional news agency Federal Press does, that the possibility of trash protests
exists in and around every Russian city (fedpress.ru/article/2005530).
Consequently, what is on view in Volokolamsk today could easily be seen in many
places tomorrow regardless of what the Kremlin does.
No comments:
Post a Comment