JRL NEWSWATCH: “When Putin goes, will Putinism persist? Russians debate” – Christian Science Monitor/ Fred Weir

February 25, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

When the Kremlin’s ex-chief ideologist speaks, people listen. Last week, he said that the governmental structure that Putin built would outlive the man who built it. Now Russians are arguing over what ‘Putinism is.

“… Vladislav Surkov, the Kremlin’s once-foremost ideologist … [in a recent article] argued … that the political regime set up by … Putin is itself a complete ideology – a ‘Putinism’ – that can survive any challenges, even the loss of its founder. … at a time of growing social unrest and uncertainty over what happens when Putin leaves the scene …. Surkov’s grand schemes have shaped the political landscape of the Putin era – and unabashedly manipulated Russians’ perceptions about democratic choice. … The central idea in his article, titled ‘Putin’s Lasting State’ is that Putin has developed a form of government that cuts out the middle men, like parliaments and bureaucracies, and unites the will of the leader with that of the people. … without any need for elections, opinion polls, or other [elements] …. Surkov was the architect of Russia’s so-called managed democracy, which included an array of somewhat differently flavored pro-Kremlin political parties that Surkov, acting out his own conception of how Western democracy works, offered voters [for] an elaborate illusion of choice. … [and] civil society groups such as the pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi and the Civic Chamber … of public groups. He lost his Kremlin job a few years ago after Putin apparently grew tired of his scheming. … he has been brought back repeatedly to handle delicate tasks, most recently as the Kremlin’s main point man … [for] Ukraine. …”