Mikhail Gorbachev Criticizes Vladimir Putin, Says Russia Needs Change

Someoneforyou

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Mikhail Gorbachev Criticizes Vladimir Putin, Says Russia Needs Change
Russia - 17 August 2011

MOSCOW -- Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Wednesday criticized the government for taking Russia backward and said that the nation needs free elections and fresh leadership.

Gorbachev was speaking ahead of the 20th anniversary of Aug. 19, 1991, hardline coup that briefly ousted him and precipitated the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Gorbachev criticized the United Russia party led by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, which he described as a bad copy of the Soviet Communist Party.

He said Russia needs to restore direct elections of governors and single-ballot elections to the parliament, which were abolished during Putin's presidency.

"Honest elections are needed: single-ballot elections, elections of governors," Gorbachev said. "People must have a feeling that something depends on them."

He dismissed the Popular Front, an umbrella group of public organizations, professional associations and unions created with Putin's blessing.

"They invent some unnecessary groups, some fronts," Gorbachev said, adding that government spin doctors might just as well invent something like "10 Putin Strikes" – a sardonic reference to "10 Stalin Strikes," a term used by Soviet propaganda to describe the Red Army's offensives during World War II.

The front's creation has been seen as an attempt by Putin to strengthen his support base ahead of parliamentary elections in December and a presidential vote in March.

Putin, who shifted into the prime minister's job in 2008 because of a two-term constitutional limit, is widely expected to reclaim the presidency.

Gorbachev avoided personal criticism of Putin, saying that he deserves credit for stabilizing the country after the economic meltdown and chaos of the first post-Soviet decade. At the same time, he harshly criticized the system of government created by Putin, saying that manipulations of elections had pushed the country back.

"There must be a change in the upper layer of government," he said.



Source: Associated Press
 

asianobserve

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Russia now is like Germany after the first World War. Putin has no doubt restored a huge part of Russian national pride and direction. I just hope he does not copy all the other things/traits of the German strongman that restored Germany's faith in itself before WW2...
 

KS

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His two changes brought down the Soviet Union prematurely and now he wants more change !
 

A.V.

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What does Mikhail Gorbachev expect , there is no magic stick around , as ray sir said he should zip up and concentrate on his advertisement campaigns
 

nrj

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Gorbachev can keep on harping. Putin regime is not going to be replaced any sooner. Putin can be criticized for known/unknown practices. But again for now, only he can keep Russia together politically & socially.
 

asianobserve

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Gorbachev sold Russia to US interest.

He should just zip up!
Sold to US interest? And the whole Soviet Communist party went with it? That's a rather tall claim.

What actually happened was a naive experiment at liberalism that the late 1980s Politburo thought was an inevitable direction if the Communist Party rule and the USSR were to survive. Little did they know that freedom is too much to handled for people who have been caged for too long. Once these people tasted some amount of freedom and openness the whole thing just unraveled. The whole system based on top down totalitarian control rule inevitably collapsed.

You see the lesson from the collapse of the USSR is straightforward, freedom is a universal longing that may be suppressed for some time but not forever. Eventually people will long for political rights and simple freedoms despite the tightness of state control.

The US was just as surprised as the Soviets at the swiftness of the collapse of teh USSR. Nobody expected it to be that soon.

On a personal note, I still yearn the stability and predictability of the Cold War era. Those were simplier times.
 

pankaj nema

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Russian PEOPLE have realised that their country needs rapid economic growth to compete with the west

Therefore Putin is popular and Putin's AUTHORITARIAN methods are not a concern

Russia has accepted the Chinese model . Rapid economic growth EVEN IF it means One man or one party rule

Russia needs political stability for a very long time to be able to concentrate on economic growth

Russian people are PROUD of their technological achievements .It is just that Russia lacks the resources of the west

If Russia has to RE ESTABLISH itself on the world stage and the global pecking order THEN PUTIN IS THE MAN for this job
 

asianobserve

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Russian PEOPLE have realised that their country needs rapid economic growth to compete with the west

Therefore Putin is popular and Putin's AUTHORITARIAN methods are not a concern

Russia has accepted the Chinese model . Rapid economic growth EVEN IF it means One man or one party rule

Russia needs political stability for a very long time to be able to concentrate on economic growth

Russian people are PROUD of their technological achievements .It is just that Russia lacks the resources of the west

If Russia has to RE ESTABLISH itself on the world stage and the global pecking order THEN PUTIN IS THE MAN for this job
Heil Putin! Heil Putin!
 

Virendra

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So someone is jealous of Putin's success at reviving Russia, while he himself failed miserably. Russians can continue leveraging their Oil and Gas resources but diversifying out of heavy industries will help even more as it generates employment at the grassroots.
 

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