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Volume 27, Issue 9, october 7, 2004

Opinion

Back in the U.S.S.R.?

mugBryan Goodland
Staff Columnist

In an odd twist of global political fate, Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to change Russia’s political system. After the end to Cold War and the continuous struggle for democracy in Russia, it would appear that Russia is about to take a giant leap backwards.

After the horrific terrorist attack, Putin decided that action needed to be taken to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening again. The global community would obviously support such a decision because of the tremendous loss of life that the Russian citizens suffered. However, in addition to positive security reformations, Putin seeks to make broad and sweeping political changes.

One of the first changes Putin wishes to install is an election law to limit the number of political parties. This kind of change is an impedance to the democratic process and a danger to those who would seek to have an opposing voice.

The second change Putin has in the works is for the Kremlin to have decisive control over the nomination of regional governors. The Kremlin is the governmental city in Russia that houses the president and is similar to Washington D.C. in the United States. Critics are claiming that Putin, who is a former KGB spy, is seeking to return Russia to a governmentally controlled nation.

In Putin’s defense, he is also seeking to make the working conditions of the various security forces far more comfortable and he is trying to tighten controls on the issuing of visas. These two measures are not reactionary, but necessary for his nation to avoid this kind of tragedy in the future. Putin’s maneuverings are tried-and-true politics. Politicians often piggyback more objectionable bills onto less objectionable ones so that they are passed quickly and often times unknowingly.

The Patriot Act is a perfect example.

Many of the politicians that passed this piece of legislation never even read it. Furthermore, it was passed in the middle of the night in an emergency session. The Patriot Act grants law enforcement and the government broad powers that are often constitutionally questionable.

President Putin may be merely recoiling from the attacks on his nation, but this seems far too calculated of a move to be reactionary. It is possible that Putin seeks to rearrange Russia’s government and take some of the power away from the people.
If this is the case, the Russia we see today may begin to resemble the Russia we saw in the past.