Putin’s Fascist Constitutional Coup Now Analogous to Stolypin’s a Century Ago, Skobov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, November 30 – This year, through his amendments to the constitution and related actions, Vladimir Putin has carried out a constitutional coup analogous to but even worse than Petr Stolypin did in June 1907 when he gutted the democratic gains the Russian people had extracted from the monarchy, Aleksandr Skobov says.

            And although the Russian analyst does not underline the point, it will be recalled that while Stolypin’s moves brought a certain temporary stability to Russia on the eve of World War II, they ultimately set the stage for developments that led to the revolutions of 1917 which destroyed the monarchy.

            The amendments Putin and his team pushed through did not simply allow the Kremlin leader to remain in power for life, Skobov says; they “strengthened authoritarian aspects of the state system of Russia today and inserted into it openly totalitarian ones” (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=5FC4E0B5B1D77).

            As such, the amendments both reflected the process of the ongoing transformation of the Putin regime “from a relatively soft authoritarianism (‘imitation-manipulative democracy’) toward a harshly authoritarian one” that opens the way to “’a new totalitarianism’” but accelerated this trend in the process.

            But Putin’s goals are not simply authoritarian but fascist; “and although this fascist state still remains not completely put in place, the aspects of fascism which from the beginning have been part of the Putin regime are becoming ever more obvious,” including a forced return of a modernized society to archaic forms, reaction and the destruction of democracy.

            Indeed, Skobov argues, Putin’s coup from above “bears not simply a reactionary and anti-democratic character but is an important milepost on the profess of the movement of his regime toward fascism.”

            The amendments did not simply allow him to remain in power but brought the country to “a qualitatively new level by freeing the powers that be from legal limitations” and sending a message to all the cogs of the regime that they can act without regard to the law as long as they follow the orders from the leader.

            What is especially disturbing, the Russian analyst says, is that “there was practically no resistance” to this fascist coup.” Many felt there was nothing they could do, but the opposition did not use even those opportunities for protest which the regime has left it. And that lack of opposition only emboldened the Kremlin to go further.

            “The purge of people who have been critical of the existing regime began in scholarly and educational institutions.” And it was made clear that those with opposition views could not expect to make a successful career anywhere. Still worse, the regime demanded not just passive support but active and enthusiastic statements in favor of its actions.

            “The purely totalitarian mechanism of mass political mobilization is being reborn with mass involvement of citizens in active measures directed at the political support of the regime, including steps to force others to display their loyalty.” The opposition could and should have at least denounced this but it hasn’t.

            Today, Skobov insists, Russia needs people who will speak out against what is going on and awaken the Russian nation to the threat they are now facing. Such people must deliver three messages, he argues.

·         First and foremost, such activists must remind everyone that Putin and his associates are “criminals who have carried out a fascist state coup. Their power is illegal, and they must be removed from office and handed over to the courts.”

·         Second, Russia must go back to the 1993 constitution with modifications that will eliminate its presidentialist elements and establish genuine federalism, including the right of regions and republics to decide to leave if they want to.

·         And third, those who recognize this must ostracize all who work in support of these fascists and occupiers. Russian society must learn to display “absolute moral intolerance to such collaborationism.”