"Three Oppositions in Russia: Cooperation and Free Competition"

During the first years of Putin’s time the concept "opposition" was washed away extremely and had no uniform sense. Because there were at least three oppositions:

-          liberals dreaming of return of Yeltsin’s times;

-          communists dreaming of return of the USSR;

-          patriots dreaming of return on pages of textbook of history of the 8^th grade.

These groups did not like Putin and the system created by him due to the different reasons and demanded opposite things from it. It was very easy for the ruling bureaucracy to provide balance simply opposing them each other.

However its aggression which came up todestruction of an opportunity of political activity as it is has quickly made substantial distinctions between political forces poorly significant. So the need to struggle with fascism - simply for the right of its existence (and for the right to fight each other in the future) – it united communists and Catholics in the years of the World War II.

The second, not less important reason of rapprochement of positions of various groups of oppositionists - that social, patriotic and liberal values in the beginning of 90th hostilely resisted each other by the end of the decade have been already synthesized by the Russian society in uniform though not formed to the end alloy.

The Russian elite and the intelligency which has become numb in the beginning of 90th could not express the synthesis in political formulas and actions, however that spontaneous "grass-root" synthesis had all the same made on them colossal  elevating influence.

Significant role was played by the efforts undertaken by reasonable forces of a society. It shouldn’t be forgotten that in August of the last year there was scientifically-practical conference under the modest name «Actions of Responsible Opposition in Revolutionary Conditions» which took place in the mayoralties of Moscow, it united on a patriotic platform representatives of all political forces oppositional for that moment, from National-Bolshevik Party and numerous left including the Communist Party of the Russian Federation up to "Yabloko" and the Union of Right Forces.

It caused true panic in administration of the president which "nightingales" agreed that organizers of the conference intentionally dated gangster attack of «nashists» on the Moscow city town committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation to it during which representatives of NBP were severely beaten while detained insurgents, as it could be judged, were got out of militia by one of the nearest assistants of Surkov. However, then Staraya Squaremanaged to suspend for a while the process of integration of opposition having urgently reanimated bugaboo of “the Russian fascism” (which they started to wave to compromise the protest against “monetarization of privileges”; not by accident Putin accusedRussiain anti-Semitism in his speech in Oswiecimin January, 2005).

Integration processes in the oppositional environment accrue and today it is possible to speak about existence of the uniform opposition showing to Putin very similar spectrum of claims and the basic groups of this opposition differ from each other not so much substantially but historically, not so much by the requirements but by memories and energy.

Not by accident all of them initiate unifying processes directed on uniting of all opposition as a whole; the competition on a background of the general cooperation is for establishing who will be |the center of crystallization” of dissatisfaction today and power – tomorrow.

The most famous group is - liberals. They are strong by their intelligence, connections with the West and sympathies of mass-media which remember "gold Yeltsin’s century". However, the majority of them are not capable of recognizing a precipice between strategic interests of the West and Russiaas it will undermine their basic political resource. They don’t spare their best representatives to try to get rid of militant intolerance of "democratic schizophrenia”, that becomes possible to do only partially (even "Other Russia" at the moment of creation has not accepted Rogozin into its structure, then it has lost its speed).

Objectively the strongest group is - the spokesman of social values, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. It is strong not only by the poverty of the rich country naturally predetermining its leftism, not only by history and fraction in the State Duma but also by internal democratism. It was the Communist Party of the Russian Federation that was the first to begin unifying process, being integrated with patriots (first of all that process went on the basis of the newspaper "Zavtra" - before the appearance of a disturbing theme of "The Fifth Empire"). Now it absorbs in herself liberal values and slogans: struggle with corruption, demands of the democracy, restriction of monopoly  of tyranny.

The Communist Parties is prevented from realization of its natural and honestly earned advantages by passivity, poor quality of leaders and, that is sharply felt recently, loss of connection with its natural social base – workers of first of all the industrial enterprises.

The most dynamical, rather perspective group is – patriots masterly using the contradictions among ruling bureaucracy. They are diverse, but here there is a rough process of consolidation and creation of internal managing structures. It’s especially important stage which influences a lot, the 9^th of December will pass and in case the session “Rodina– КRО”will be successful, modern political top-side of patriotic movement.

Patriots integrate opposition by principle of Minin and Pozharsky - "without thieves". Today they are closest to synthesis of patriotic, social and liberal values in that kind in which it already for a long time is spontaneously lead by the Russian society.

КRОin itself cannot participate in the elections but neither elections nor the State Duma will not be legitimate without patriots and will turn into a senseless set of supernumeraries, not only useless but also harmful to the authority, not stabilizing, but shaking the situation.

If the ruling bureaucracy will understand it - KRO anyhow will enter into the State Duma. If not - КRОthough a bit later will take not deputy fraction in the State Duma but authority in Russia.

Certainly, patriots have a lot of lacks... for example, some of them smoke too much.

But it is alive and vigorous political force which possesses our future. As to the disadvantages, as it is known, only Putin doesn’t have ones - because, according to the popular expression - if Napoleon had such mass-media, nobody would know that he lost the battle near Waterloo.

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