Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin Speak out Against Putin’s Reforms

mosnews.com ^ | 9/16/2004 | Staff

[Luis Gonzalez]

Soviet Union’s last president Mikhail Gorbachev and Russia’s first president Boris Yeltsin expressed criticism regarding Vladimir Putin’s proposed reforms in Russian electoral system. Statements by Yeltsin and Gorbachev were made in exclusive interviews to Moskovskie Novosti (The Moscow News) weekly, and will be published in that newspaper’s Friday issue. MosNews, which is a partner publication of Moskovskie Novosti, posted full translation of both statements on our website on Thursday.

Our common goal is to do everything possible to make sure that bills, which, in essence, mean a step back from democracy, don’t come into force as law. I hope that the politicians, voters, and the president himself keep the democratic freedoms that were so hard to obtain, — reads Mikhail Gorbachev’s statement. Soviet Union’s last president, who ruled the country from 1985 to 1992, is convinced that Russian authorities “must search for political solutions, negotiate with the middle-of-the-road militants, separating them from the unappeasable extremists”.

His successor Boris Yeltsin, whose second presidential term ended on December 31, 1999, with a surprise announcement of his voluntary resignation (Vladimir Putin was named acting president three months before actually getting elected in March 2000), calls on the Kremlin to refrain from undermining the existing constitutional framework, despite the necessity of fighting terrorist threats.

I firmly believe that the measures that the country’s leadership will undertake after Beslan will remain within the framework of democratic freedoms that have become Russia’s most valuable achievement over the past decade. We will not give up on the letter of the law, and most importantly, the spirit of the Constitution our country had voted for at the public referendum in 1993. If only because the stifling of freedom and the curtailing of democratic rights is a victory by the terrorists. Only a democratic country can successfully resist terrorism and count on standing shoulder to shoulder with all of the world’s civilized countries, — Yeltsin says in his statement.

Boris Yeltsin’s statement is viewed as a surprise move by many observers in Moscow. Unlike Mikhail Gorbachev, who is still active on Russian political scene, Yeltsin chose to refrain from public comments about Vladimir Putin’s politics ever since his retirement. Recently Boris Berezovsky, an exiled tycoon, renowned for his criticisms of Kremlin and Putin, published an open letter to Russia’s first president, urging Yeltsin to speak up and reminding him of his responsibility for the establishment of Russian constitutional democracy. Yeltsin makes no mention of Berezovsky’s call in his statement, but some observers tend to link his decision to break silence with the exiled oligarch’s request.

[dfwgator]

Hey Gorby, when Putin slaughters 13 people in Vilnius like your thugs did, then you can talk.

[Luis Gonzalez]

Putin has slaughtered 40,000 kids in Chechnya, and you support him.

What does that say about you?

[rintense]

So are you taking the Chechen's side here?

[Prost1]

I strongly urge Europe to encourage Putin to withdraw his recommendation for Krelim appointed Governors.

This is a dangerous return to Tsarist times and nothing good can come from it.

[OldFriend]

Snicker snort, who are these two clowns.

[wagglebee]

As long as there are still Islamofascists out there terrorizing the innocent, then there are still more jihadists to be killed. The jihadists are no different than cockroachs, rats or other vermin, they need to be exterminated!

[Luis Gonzalez]

There have been 200,000 civilian deaths in Chechnya, and yes...I am taking the Chechen's side on this.

I didn't say that I am either taking the side of the Chechen terrorists, nor that I am condoning the attacks on Beslan.

The fact remains that there have been as many as 200,000 civilian deaths in Chechnya as a result of Russia, and approximately 40,000 children are among the dead, and if sides have to be taken on that, I will take the side who are suffering such staggering losses at the hands of the Russian Army.

However, that's not what I've been concerned with lately.

What I've been reporting on, is the fact that Putin has seized this opportunity to destroy the last vestiges of democracy in Russia, and that the men responsible for that democracy...including the man who fought the first Chechen war, are also taking a stand against Putin.

Are you siding with Putin in his returning Russia to a totalitarian form of government?

[Luis Gonzalez]

You recognize one of them I am sure, he was at The Gipper's funeral next to Margaret Thatcher.

Here...this may remind you:

[EagleUSA]

Darn, if he goes through with it, it will be very "similar" to what Clinton did to the Federal Judges when he took office......

Look what we got!!! Leftist, law-breaking activists on the bench....hey, Putin, is this your role model ???

[Luis Gonzalez]

"The jihadists are no different than cockroachs, rats or other vermin, they need to be exterminated!"

"Vilification (dehumanization), the third stage of genocide, is the process by which members of a class are designated as enemies. The Nazis vilified Jews as subhuman rats and vermin." -- Source

[monkeywrench]

Relax, the only ones screaming about this are lefties/third wayers, so far.

[b2stealth]

This has nothing to do with terrorism,
it's to make sure Putin stays in power.
Compared to Putin Yeltsin and even Gorbochev look like democratic presidents, at least they allowed some media critisizm..

[keithtoo]

Yeltsin is still alive?

[wagglebee]

The difference is that the Jews had never expressed a desire to kill all of the German people, nor had the Jews ever attacked the German people. So your arguement doesn't work.

As for "dehumanization", people who rape and murder young children based on racial/religious differences (the Chechens are just like the Nazis in this respect) are not human beings, they are monsters. It's this PC culture of treating all groups as morally equivilant that got us into this mess. There is evil in the world, Hitler and Stalin are prime examples as are these monsters in Chechnya.

[Luis Gonzalez]

"Relax, the only ones screaming about this are lefties/third wayers, so far."

A row between Russia and America over Moscow's response to the Beslan tragedy escalated yesterday when George Bush voiced concern that a sweeping Kremlin security overhaul "could undermine democracy".

Hours after Russia warned Washington not to meddle in its internal affairs, Mr Bush expressed disquiet at moves by his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to fight Chechen terrorism by amassing more power for himself.

"As governments fight the enemies of democracy, they must uphold the principles of democracy," the president said. "I'm ... concerned about the decisions that are being made in Russia that could undermine democracy."

His remarks hinted at US unease that Mr Putin could use the "war on terror" to roll back post-Soviet reform.

[Luis Gonzalez]

So, what are you going to say about the Russians responsible for murders and rapes in Chechnya?

Two hundred thousand civilians...40,000 kids.

[Truth666]

31 December 1999 - the day God gave Mankind ONE LAST grace time

[Thrusher]

I'm going to have to call Godwin's Law here. Terrorists who kidnap, rape, torture and murder innocent children -- for whatever the reason -- actually are "no different than cockroachs, rats or other vermin" and they absolutely should be exterminated, with extreme prejudice (and hopefully a lot of pain).

[mikhailovich]

I knew it was Luis Gonzalez the minute I read the headline. Did you catch the Nightline coverage of this story two nights ago? They summed this up as no big deal. Get over it. Communism is not returning in Russia. Maybe in your fantasies, but not in Russia.