Khabarovsk Protests Haven’t Moved Beyond the Personal and Thus ‘Paradoxically’ Reinforce Regime, Koryakovtsev and Zhilin Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, August 11 – No questions how impressive the demonstrations in Khabarovsk have been given how large they have been and how long they have lasted, but one commentator, Andrey Koryakovtsev, argues that they haven’t become the nucleus for an opposition because they remain fixated on individuals like Furgal and Putin rather than articulating a new program.

            The result of that, the instructor at the Urals State Pedagogical Institute, is that they are “paradoxically” supporting the existing system because they are talking only about individuals rather than about the arrangements these individuals have put in place, something any serious opposition must do (nakanune.ru/articles/116278/).

            Soviet-era dissidents understood that getting rid of this or that communist leader would do little or nothing to change the oppressive system in the USSR. But many of the protesters in Khabarovsk, just like many of those who sympathize with them, have fallen into the trap of assuming that if Furgal is returned or Putin is ousted, everything will magically change.

            Aleksandr Zhilin, a political observer, agrees, and argues that “however offensive it may be for those protesting now, the speeches on offer in Khabarovsk have turned out to be a perverted form of support for the regime” because they do not challenge the system itself but only its individual manifestations.

            The Kremlin fully understands this and recognizes that as long as the attacks are directed at Putin or some other leaders, the protesters are not a serious threat to the ruling stratum, and consequently, Zhilin continues, the regime and its media do everything they can to keep the focus on personal attacks and prevent them from becoming political programs. 

            There may be broad agreement among those in the streets of Khabarovsk that Furgal must be restored or even that Putin must go, but beyond that, those taking part in the demonstrations agree on little, thus limiting their ability to attract those who might agree with this or that program.

            Instead, Zhilin concludes, the opposition as shown in Khabarovsk is something like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get, and that reality allows the powers that be to escape the broader attacks that could lead to their exit from the political Olympus.