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Volume 27, Issue 9, october 7, 2004

Opinion

Putin flirts with a brave new world

mugHeather Wahle
Staff Columnist

The recent terrorist attacks in Russia have led to a proposed government change. President Vladimir V. Putin decided it would be in Russia’s best interests to stop elections of their governors and district representatives in Parliament.

His justification for eliminating democracy in Russia being the heightened security risks of terrorist attacks, with the most recent middle school hostage situation.

On the first day of school in Beslan, Russia, militants held hundreds of school-children, teachers, and parents hostage. Over 300 people, most of them small children, were slain, The terrorists kept their hostages without water and food and their captives at random.

For days, terrorists held hundreds of people on the cramped floor of the gymnasium and warned them that if any attempts to move were made, they, along with the 20 people seated closest to them would be killed on sight. Those who attempted to escape were executed while others didn’t survive the horrendous conditions.

President Putin is trying to abolish the democracy that has been in place in Russia for only the past 13 years. In post-Soviet Russia, the country has struggled to instate a voting system that isn’t entirely corrupt.

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Money and violence are often motivators in the elections. According to the president of Russia, the electoral process is skewed by class, social, and ethnic divisions.

Instead of attempting to fix the newly introduced voting system, Putin is taking away Russian’s right to vote. In a skewed effort to place order in the country, the authoritative Russia will soon be back in place, crushing many hopes for a democratic and more peaceful society being established.

Democracy was introduced to Russia in 1993, when former President Yeltsin prompted the re-write of the constitution in order to gain a basic democratic practice and newfound freedom in the country. Boris Yeltsin initiated this change because Parliament was infected with defiant legislators.

In action, democracy has hardly existed in the ideal sense. Many Russians view the electoral process in their country as an exploitation of the democratic system. People in power are those with the most money, while the country is stricken with terrorist attacks, the most recent of which involved the killing of hundreds of innocent school children.

Mr. Putin has showed little hope in the democratic freedom introduced with the new constitution. He has changed the results of elections and eliminated his political opponents.

Putin has also stifled independent media and secured positions for those in presidential elections in Chechnya. Instead of elections, President Putin will now appoint all the officials and leaders in all of the 89 regions and 225 of the seats in Parliament.

When Beslan’s school hostage and terrorist attack finally drew to a close on Sept. 3, Putin spoke of his plan to re-instate “order” in the country. The president spoke of how Russia was such a great and strong country as the Soviet Union and how the recent disorder is due to the new democracy.

Putin feels that with a new governmental policy, Russia will be less vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Putin argues that democracy does not unify a country. He says that in order to stabilize Russia, this government change is necessary.

However, democracy is not a determinant for militant behavior and terrorist groups. The lack of democracy is more of a breeding ground for such acts. The more oppressed and less involved the population is with their nation, the more likely that action will be taken forcefully.

This is demonstrated in the violence against the Ingush population in Russia. The ethnicity of the terrorists involved in the Beslan school siege has not been disclosed.

Many have assumed and targeted the Ingush as responsible, and several acts of violence, including kidnappings and bombings, have already been inflicted against the Ingush people. The Ingushis fear that more attacks will erupt after the 40-day mourning period for the Beslan killings.

Shamil Basayev and his group Riyadus-Salakhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs have recently assumed responsibility for many terrorist attacks and middle school hostages in Russia.

The Chechen commander made his involvement public to counter assumptions that Osama Bin Laden and members of Al Qaeda could have been involved in the violence.

Basayev has placed some blame on Russian forces who invaded the school after the first bombs went off in the middle school in Beslan. He expressed remorse for the children slain, and apologized while putting the responsibility on authorities for the assault by charging into the school.

Schools in Beslan re-opened on Sept. 16, less than two weeks after the hostage crisis and terrorist attacks ended. Armed soldiers guard the entryways and few attend class. Enrollment is at approximately 150 students. Before the attack, enrollment exceeded 900 students. Students are afraid to attend classes and are trying to come to terms with the grief for those who have passed.

President Putin carries through plans to eliminate democracy in Russia. He is optimistic that if the Soviet Union is replicated, Russia will be stable and less vulnerable to terrorist attack. Elected officials are supportive of the new governmental controls on the country.
The people of Russia are grief-stricken and in mourning for the hundreds of lives lost in the recent terrorist attack. Soon, they will have to cope with a new authoritative government, as well.