05 June 2004 16:49
Limonov, others on "radical youth" movement in Russian NTV`s "Freedom of
Speech"
Russia's "radical youth" movement was the subject for debate in Russian NTV's "Freedom of
Speech" discussion programme on 4 June, hosted by Savik Shuster and broadcast live (as captioned).
Eduard Limonov, the National Bolshevik leader, and Ilya Ponomarev (Youth Front of the Left) confronted Vasiliy
Yakimenko, the leader of pro-Putin's Marching Together youth organization. They were joined by the Zhirinovskiy
LDPR's Aleksey Mitrofanov and writer Tatyana Tolstaya. No officials were available for comment.
Sergey Udaltsov, Vanguard of Red Youth, spoke about his organization's picket - 15 strong - in front of the
White House, Russia's government residence, on 1 June, which was dispersed by force by the security service.
Protest and media representatives were hurt. Kommersant newspaper journalist Oleg Kashin told "Freedom of
Speech" how he suffered concussion in the struggle. His NTV colleague, Armina Bagdasaryan, added that they were not
allowed to film and that what had been filmed was confiscated.
A bunch of young people, interviewed outside with the White House seen in the distance, told the studio that there
was no other way for them to be heard by those in authority but to resort to acts of civil disobedience such as
this.
Ilya Ponomarev, as he kicked off the debate, spoke about young people's disillusionment with the political
status quo in Russia. The young elector, he said, preferred the "Go to Hell" candidate.
Broadcaster and journalist Yelena Afanasyeva suggested the high profile of youth leaders, implied by the debate,
belied the true state of affairs, which was that the interests of young people out there lay not in politics but
elsewhere. True, she added, the authorities are not open to dialogue.
Journalist Dmitriy Bykov disagreed. His argument was that there was a thin line between young people's passivity
and a violent outburst of political activity. "The issue here is what the reaction of the authorities will be. The
problem is that the authorities, in their reaction to these peaceful and quite innocent protests, are clearly going over
the top. Then we'll have what we had in 1917," he warned.
"Hooligans," was the laconic view of Vasiliy Yakimenko, who took the floor then. He invited his opponents
to go "back to the lathe". He defended his organization against accusations of subservience to the
authorities. Actions speak louder than words, he said, as he gave one example, of his organization's members at
work in Groznyy.
Andrey Vulf, of the SPS's youth wing, said the young people of today could not accept the political system of
the day. His organization, he said, represented the third way of youth politics, which was about
"individuality" as opposed to the "herd instinct".
Limonov's contribution was vociferous and on occasion popular with at least some in the audience, though at
times abusive towards both his opponents and the authorities. He described pro-Putin's One Russia faction in the
Duma as a "rogues' gallery", Russia itself as a "near-fascist" state and Putin's
inauguration ceremony as a "disgrace". About this, he said: "We are not Mr Putin's subjects. We are
citizens. We have the right to participate in politics." There was applause.
"The people cannot be arrogantly ignored," he went on to comment. "We don't want everything to be
decided for us. We want to be part of the process whereby our country's destiny is decided," he said in
conclusion, once again to some applause.
Among other noteworthy remarks, Ilya Yashin, of Yabloko's youth wing, called for the overthrow of the
"autocracy".
Mitrofanov veered off into history to argue his case that Russia has always been ruled by the bureaucrat (he likened
the rule of Stalin to that of a clan "from the Caucasus"; and described Khrushchev and Brezhnev as the
"men from Ukraine"). Today is another cycle in the process.
Limonov clashed repeatedly with Yakimenko and Tolstaya. There was also a slanging match between Yabloko's Yashin
(during which he made the "autocracy" remark) and Yakimenko.
The subject of "Namedni" presenter Leonid Parfenov's sacking cropped up in a question from the
audience, but was not really developed, save for some predictable comment from Yakimenko in defence of the decision.
[NTV Mir] |
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