Interfax: Socio-cultural split in Russia can be overcome – Constitution Court Chairman

MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) – Public accord in Russia is attainable and its legal grounds are the basis of the Russian Constitution, which has considerable potential for legal reforms, Russian Constitution Court Chairman Valery Zorkin said.

A number of research publications emerged in the field of Russian social science in the recent years and they allow that Russia has a fundamental peculiarity in that it possesses a socio-cultural split, Zorkin said at the “Modern Constitutionalism. Conclusions and Prospects” conference in St. Petersburg on Thursday.

“It is senseless to deny this tendency – the facts are obvious. However, quite often a conclusion is made that this split hinders attempts to achieve public accord on the basis of stable constitutional law. And this means it is an undeniable obstacle for the normal constitutional and legal development of the country,” Zorkin said.

“I want to warn my colleagues against interpreting the situation in the spirit and terms of a ‘vicious cycle’ essentially not allowing Russia to leave this futile historical path,” Zorkin said.